^^ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


THE  WORLD'S 


GREATEST  CONFLICT 


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)    ]       }  ) 


REVIEW   OF   FRANCE   AND    AMERICA 
1788   TO   1800 

AND   HISTORY    OF   AMERICA   AND    EUROPE 
1800   TO    1804 


BY 

HENRY    BOYNTON 


•  4         I    ■     . 

>  t      ^       i     '     . 


BOSTON 
D    LOT  II  KOI'    COMPANY 

WASHINGTON    STKElil    OPrOSITE    UKUMFIHLU 


I  •         •       •  ■  •     • 


...  .  ..•  ..•••..•   •  • 


CorvRiGHT,  i8go, 

BY 
D.    LOTHROP   COMl  ANY. 


•     •  •         »       ••  • 


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k*      ••••■••, 


♦        •     •  • 


'  •     •  e 

•  •     •  * 

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.  i   vV^ 


PREFACE. 

The  world's  greatest  conflict  is  the  struggle  for  and 
against  good  government.  Our  Revolution  established 
independence,  but  it  did  not  settle  our  government; 
that  grand  work  was  later.  We  had  one  State  (Vermont) 
outside  the  Union,  and  thirteen  commonwealths  but 
loosely  connected.     They  were  not  firmly  united. 

Popular  rule  of  a  great  combination  of  States  with 
varying  interests  and  habits  was  not  yet  accomplished. 
w  To  do  it  properly  demanded  an  invention  —  a  new  mech- 
anism. The  American  system  in  which  a  clearly  ex- 
pressed Constitution,  interpreted  by  an  independent 
judiciary,  defines,  limits  and  overrules  all  executive 
power  and  all  legislation,  prevents  aggression  by  or 
against  the  Government,  and  guarantees  the  rights  of 
every  person,  however  humble,  is  the  greatest  of  all  in- 
ventions; the  grandest  achievement  of  human  intellect. 

Republics  had  already  existed  ;  they  are  of  ancient 
origin  —  even  steam  and  steam  machinery  existed  before 
James  Watt.  But  those  old  republics  compare  with 
the  modern  system  now  used  in  both  Americas,  Great 
Britain,  France,  Australia  and  Switzerland,  as  does  the 
rude  steamboat  of  Blasco  de  Garey  of  blessed  memory 
with  that  great  Inman  steamer,  the  City  of  New  York. 

Our  best  statesmen  were  then  students  of  statesman- 
ship—  seekers  for  a  .system  to  secure  individual  liberty 
and  equality  and  the  certainty  of  legal  remedies,  and  yet 
to  restrain    license,  protect   person   and    property,  to 

3 


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O 


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> 


iv  PREFACE. 

surely  punish  crime,  and  to  debar  any  part  of  the  people 
from  invading  the  rights  of  any  other  part.  It  was 
not  perfect  —  it  has  been  several  times  amended. 

Lack  of  precedent  rendered  American  government 
in  the  times  of  Washington,  Adams  and  Jefferson, 
more  crude  and  much  more  difficult  than  to-day,  when 
laws,  practices  and  expectations  of  State  legislatures 
and  courts  are  better  affiliated. 

Our  form  of  government  and  those  of  Great  Britain 
and  France  are  not  due  to  any  one  man,  but  are  the 
work  of  self-made  nations  who  are  willing  to  make 
the  mutual  concessions  always  necessary  to  any  good 
government.  The  vital  principle  of  success  is  consent 
to  peacefully  abide  the  decisions  of  the  majority  —  a 
failure  to  obey  which  barred  from  success  the  first 
French  Revolution, 

Great  Britain  has  now  a  free  popular  government  so 
far  as  its  House  of  Commons,  and  that  House  controls 
the  Ministry.  Members  are  elected  by  manhood  suf- 
frage in  a  form  of  balloting  better  guarded  against 
fraud  than  in  most  States  and  countries.  But  prior  to 
the  first  "  Reform  Act"  of  1832,  only  a  few  persons 
chose  the  members  ;  few  men  were  voters. 

Great  Britain  has  a  constitution,  though  it  is  still  not 
one  compact  document;  but  its  Magna  Charta  and  its 
many  acts  of  Parliament  and  long  ages  of  judicial 
decisions.  Since  1789  Great  Britain  has  made  more 
real  progress  than  in  many  previous  centuries  ;  it  is 
one  of  the  most  progressive  of  nations. 

France,  Italy,  the  two  Americas,  the  British  colonies, 
the  educational  system  of  Germany,  and  the  Swiss  can- 
tons have  immensely  advanced. 


PREFACE.  V 

The  whole  civilized  world  is  more  humane,  more  en- 
lightened ;  there  exists  in  people  and  in  governments 
far  less  of  hatred,  of  malignancy ;  the  standards  of  public 
and  private  honor  are  higher  than  a  hundred  years 
ago.  The  world  is  vastly  indebted  to  men  and  women 
who  have  labored  to  make  our  race  better  and  happier. 
Retrospect  shows  that  they  have  accomplished  great 
good  in  the  improvement  of  manners,  morals,  intelli- 
gence, charity,  in  the  betterment  of  public  institutions 
and  of  private  habits.  The  world  grows  better.  The 
peoples  are  learning  that  the  more  they  uphold,  aid 
and  comfort  the  intelligent  teachers  of  religion,  honor, 
honesty  and  kindness,  the  less  are  they  likely  to  need 
force ;  the  more  Sunday-schools  and  day  schools,  the 
less  policemen  ;  and  it  follows  that  the  more  inter- 
national courtesy,  the  less  liability  to  war.  The  more 
obedience  to  the  fifth  chapter  of  Matthew,  the  less 
need  of  armies  ;  the  more  they  secure  fraternal,  gener- 
ous and  humane  habits  and  principles,  the  more  they 
honor  God  and  their  country. 

No  nation  should  be  judged  to-day  by  what  it  was 
two  generations  ago.  It  is  an  age  of  progress,  not 
equal  in  all  nations,  for  some,  notably  in  the  increase 
of  standing  armies,  have  retrograded. 

If  we  wish  to  learn  the  real  lessons  that  history 
teaches  we  must  lay  aside  our  own  bias  —  all  our  pre- 
conceived ideas  —  and  examine  history  in  the  same  im- 
partial spirit  with  which  a  good  juryman  tries  a  cause 
in  court  by  "law  and  evidence";  we.  must  make  our 
verdicts  by  the  holy  law  of  good  conscience  and  facts, 
"without  fearer  favor,"  even  though  it  condemn  our 
historical  idols. 


VI  PREFACE. 

Much  that  has  passed  as  liistory  or  material  for  his- 
tory is  badly  defective  because  distorted  from  fact  by 
the  vindictive  party  feelings,  in  fashion  to  a  much 
later  period.  False  sentiments,  party  hates,  a  dis- 
position to  have  and  to  worship  an  idol,  a  blind  fol- 
lowing of  mistaken  leaders,  have  too  often  usurped 
the  place  of  honest,  manly  conscience  in  judging  of  the 
characters  of  men  and  measures  of  history,  especially 
of  that  so  recent  thai  men  are  still  living  who  heard 
the  thunder  of  all  Europe's  cannon  as  it  closed  around 
France,  or  have  been  active  partisans  of  men  then 
living.  The  statements  of  facts  that  bear  hardest 
upon  leading  characters  in  this  book,  and  in  one 
that  must  follow  it,  are  proven  by  documents  found 
among  their  own  papers,  and  by  testimony  of  their  own 
friends  and  intimate  contemporaries,  and  confirmed  by 
other  ample  evidence.  For  one  to  palliate  or  excuse 
a  public  crime  or  wrongful  measure  because  of  the 
eminence  or  leadership  of  the  perpetrator,  would  be 
to  wrong  one's  own  conscience  and  to  aid  in  demoraliza- 
tion of  public  opinion. 

H.  B. 


The  World's  Greatest  Conflict. 


THE    FRENCH    REVOLUTION. 

THE  American  and  English  Revolutions  were 
made  to  defend  rights,  the  French  to  obtain 
them.  Religion  favored  the  former,  but  injured 
the  latter.  The  immorality  of  the  higher  French 
clergy,  who  were  all  nobles,  in  contrast  with  the 
morality  of  the  common  priests,  disgusted  the 
people  and  excited  them  toward  revolt. 

American  and  British  parliaments  rank  above 
the  executive  power ;  the  French  parliaments 
were  almost  powerless  ;  the  king  alone  was  power. 
"  I  am  the  State  !  "  said  the  imperious  Louis. 

In  proportion  to  the  degree  of  misrule  are, 
usually,  the  excesses  of  revolt.  French  kingly 
misrule  was  terrible  ;  revolt  was  therefore  terrible. 

Insurgents  who  have  nothing  to  lose,  destroy 
property  ;  men  to  whom  life  is  of  little  value, 
commit  bloodshed  freely.  The  kings  and  nobles 
made  the  people  poor,  and  by  rendering  their  lives 
of  little  value  to  themselves,  qualified  them  for 
bloody  and  destructive  revolt. 

9 


10         Tin:  world's  greatest  conflict. 

England  presents  a  striking  contrast ;  in  revolu- 
tion since  1832,  its  great  change  has,  nevertheless, 
been  pccitgfvl  aml.btftffilc^it,  because  the  people 
had  the  mc'ans  lo"  progress. peacefully.  In  1774 
this  iv^.TO'ls^jijAl^ntcjl  fo/IVAtice.  All  the  people, 
even  the  nobility,  were  out  of  power.  Then  only 
Great  Britain,  Switzerland  and  Holland  had  limited 
rulers.  All  else  was  absolute  monarchy.  France 
in  many  provinces  was  under  diverse  laws  and 
customs  ;  some  had  little  parliaments,  others  had 
none.  The  king's  "  Intendents  "  ruled  over  many 
sections  and  extorted  all  possible  taxes,  legal  and 
illegal. 

Every  person  was  either  a  noble  or  a  plebeian  ; 
no  middle  class  existed  ;  of  twenty-five  millions 
of  French,  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  nobles 
held  all  the  valuable  places  in  church,  state  and 
army.  The  only  taxes  they  paid  were  a  five  per 
cent,  on  crops  ;  all  other  taxes  and  tithes  were 
extorted  from  plebeians.  Offices,  honors,  titles 
and  tolls,  the  king  sold  or  donated  to  favorites. 

It  is  an  error  of  writers  to  claim  that  the  work- 
ingmen  of  France  read  Rousseau  and  Voltaire  ; 
most  of  them  could  not  read  at  all  ;  they  toiled 
and  starved  ;  absentee  landlords  spent  the  rents 
in  Paris  and  drained  the  farm  country  of  cash. 

In  1788-89  skilled  mechanics  earned  twenty-six 
sous  a  day,  women  twenty  sous  ;  bread  was  three 
sous  a  pound.* 

*  Bouteau,  Laverne,  von  Syb«l. 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  1 1 


11. 


IT  was  a  fine  May  morning  in  the   year  1774. 
Everybody  was   glad.     Louis   the    Fifteenth 
was  dead.     He  had  been  a  bad  king. 

Not  a  mourner  followed  to  the  tomb  lvoj 

at  St.  Denis.     Paris,  long  angry,  long       estmort;  — 
repressed,  threw  up  its  eight  hundred        abasi'roi. 
thousand    hats,    caps    and    bonnets, 
hugged    itself,    sang   merrily,  danced,  and  jeered 
that  lonely  royal    funeral  that    galloped    through 
the  streets. 

The  fifteenth  Louis  had  lived  sixty-four  years ; 
he  had  been  king  fifty-nine  years,  and  had  led  a 
gay  and  wicked  life.  France  suffered  frightfully 
from  this  bad  king's  badness. 

His  death  was  the  best  act  of  his  life.  It  gave 
Parisians  the  merriest  day  they  had  seen  for 
years. 

Louis  the  Fifteenth  had  boasted  of  being  the 
best  cook  in  France.  Far  better  for  the  French 
had  he  been  born  only  a  cook  ;  he  was  worthless 
for  anything  else. 

It  was  on  May  10,  1774,  that  Louis  was  so 
gracious  as  to  die.  On  May  10,  1770,  just  four 
years  before,  there  had  been  solemnized  a  famous 
wedding. 

The  bridegroom  was  a  big,  ill-mannered,  abrupt, 


12 


TTIK    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 


awkward,  ill-humored  *  and  decidedly  dull  boy  of 
less  than  sixteen  years. 

Hoys  are  usually  brii;ht  and  can  talk  ;  but  this 
boy  bridegroom  had  both  poverty  of  mind  and  of 
speech.  He  was  also  very  timid  and  very  lazy. 
He  had  a  coarse  way  of  moving  and  of  walking  ; 
he  lacked  both  grace  and  graciousness.  Poor  de- 
ficient boy  !  Nature  had  made  him  unfitted  for  a 
career  ;  and  Fate  had  caused  him  to  be  born  to  be 
a  king.     It  was  deplorable. 

The  young  bride  was  unwisely  selected  for  a 
French  queen.  Her  Austrian  birth  invited  French 
criticism  and  she  was  but  a  romping,  ignorant  f 
girl  of  fourteen  and  a  half  years. 

This  boy  and  girl  were  not  in  love  ;  they  were 
not  attracted  to  each  other ;  each  was  averse  to 
the  other.  Their  nations,  characters,  tastes,  habits 
—  everything  were  different  and  opposite. 

When  the  exit  of  the  bad  old  Louis  the  Fifteenth 
had  caused  this  spontaneous  popular  festival,  and 
every  one  was  feeling  happy,  this  unloving  and 
not  very  lovely  wedded  pair  made  their  debut  on 
the  great  political  stage  of  France  as  King  Louis 
the  Sixteenth  and  Queen  Marie  Antoinette. 

Whenever  you  have  on  your  hands  a  very  vicious 
elephant,  and  luck  suddenly  exchanges  him  for  a 
worthless  donkey,  what  do  you  do  ?  Why,  you  re- 
joice greatly  ;  you  are  exceeding  glad  for  the  loss 
of  that  big,  bad  brute.     You  hurrah  without  wait- 

•  Martin,  Vol.  II,  p.  280.  t  Thiers,  Vol   I.  p.  227. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  1 3 

ing  to  learn  that  your  new  donkey  is  very  stupid, 
very  awkward,  very  lazy,  very  much  worse  than  use- 
less ;  that  really  as  a  nuisance  his  merit  is  second 
only  to  that  of  the  now  discarded  vicious  elephant. 

Such  was  the  French  situation. 

Each  order  stood  alone ;  nobles,  clergy,  and 
"  third  estate  "  each  had  interests  adverse  to  the 
other  two,  each  was  divided  against  itself.  The 
nobles  were  luxurious  and  licentious  ;  the  higher 
clergy,  some  of  whom  disbelieved,  lived  in  rich 
excess,  while  the  honest  common  priests  in  pov- 
erty soothed  the  sick  and  the  mourning,  and 
married,  baptized,  and  buried  the  poor. 

The  king  and  his  favorites  imprisoned,  exiled, 
confiscated  at  will.  Innocence  was  not  safe,  prop- 
erty was  not  safe,  life  was  not  safe  ;  Louis  was  apt 
to  break  over  his  own  laws,  to  oppress  his  people. 

The  great  nobles  were  courtiers,  hated  by  coun- 
try gentlemen,  and  abhorred  by  France ;  they 
bought,  sold  or  held  offices  in  the  church,  the 
state,  the  army  and  navy ;  they  drew  unearned 
pensions  and  many  royal  gifts  of  cash  wrung  from 
working  people.  Even  the  seats  in  the  Paris  par- 
liament were  sold  for  life  by  the  king. 

The  king  made  laws  ;  parliament  merely  "  regis- 
tered "  them.  If  it  refused  to  register  the  king 
could  come  in  person  and  compel  registry. 

In  1800  it  was  the  fashion  for  sovereigns  to  be 
half-witted  or  insane,      liut   in    177.4,  it   was  quite 


14  Till-:    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

Otherwise,  when  Catherine  the  Second  of  Russia, 
Frederic  the  Second  of  Prussia,  Maria  Theresa 
of  Austria,  Joseph  the  Second  of  Germany,  and 
Charles  the  Third  of  Spain  were  ruling. 

Louis  the  Sixteenth  was  himself  ill-tempered, 
selfish,  lazy  ;  his  wife  was  of  ill-mannered  igno- 
rance, and  made  scandal  by  frolicking  with  doubt- 
ful characters  in  Versailles  woods  ;  both  of  them 
were  of  very  narrow  minds  and  should  early  have 
perceived  that  they  were  never  made  to  reign. 
Marie  Antoinette  could  not  endure  Louis'  dull- 
ness, and  he,  when  but  sixteen,  preferred  an  anvil 
and  hammer  to  the  society  of  his  young  wife. 
Not  till  years  after  marriage  did  any  love  exist 
between  them. 

Americans  have  too  generously  credited  Louis 
with  friendly  aid  to  America.  This  credit  is  due 
to  France,  but  not  to  Louis.  Louis  opposed  it ; 
he  only  yielded  when  French  public  opinion  co- 
erced him  into  war  with  England.  Britain  was  the 
hereditary  enemy  of  France  ;  she  had,  by  the 
war  which  ended  in  1763,  despoiled  France  of 
Canada,  Cape  Breton,  and  most  of  the  French 
Indies. 

Louis  was  a  champion  blunderer.  His  first  and 
greatest  blunder  was  in  being  born  at  all,  his  sec- 
ond in  being  born  to  be  a  king,  his  third  in  accept- 
ing from  Austria  a  wife  when  Austria  had  just 
humiliated  France  in  a  long  war.  That  wife  had 
a  singular  genius  for  displeasing  the  French. 


THE    WORLDS    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  1 5 

In  examining  the  strange  and  now  famous  career 
of  this  fateful  and  untalented  pair,  we  wonder  that 
Louis  did  not  omit  so  unfit  a  marriage,  perceive 
his  own  very  marked  worthlessness,  resign  the 
crown,  marry  some  suitable  very  dull  damsel,  and 
live  a  dull  life  as  became  his  stupid  disposition. 
Even  foolish  Charles  the  Fourth  of  Spain  was 
wise  enough  to  abdicate  {1808),  and  live  in  private 
and  happy  luxury  ;  even  fool  Philip  of  Spain  (1788) 
had  the  good  taste  to  be  an  outright  idiot,  and  as 
such  was  set  aside  to  spend  his  life  in  hunting  just 
as  Louis  wanted  to  hunt.  Louis  ought  to  have 
been  as  wise  as  these  two  champion  fools. 

We  do  not  wish  to  be  deceived  :  let  us  look  at 
the  real  Louis  the  Sixteenth  uncolored  by  fancy. 
Let  us  try  this  case  by  the  evidence,  and  by  the 
laws  of  common  justice  and  fairness,  applying  the 
same  rules  of  right  and  wrong  to  king  and  com- 
moner. If  the  results  differ  from  that  derived  from 
former  historical  reading  let  us  blame  only  the 
facts  ;  let  us  quarrel  with  the  acts  and  the  persons 
who  made  them,  not  with  the  conclusion. 

Profligacy  had  run  riot ;  morality  was  deranged  ; 
royal  mistresses  had  ruled  France.  So  disgusted 
with  wicked  Louis  the  Fifteenth  were  the  French 
that  they  hailed  with  delight  the  accession  of 
stupid  Louis  the  Sixteenth,  even  with  Marie  An- 
toinette "  the  Austrian." 

God  made  Louis  the  Sixteenth  for  a  small  tinker, 


1 6  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

a  mender  of  pots  and  pans  ;  heredity  defied  God's 
design  and  made  him  a  king.  He  was  one  of 
those  good-for-nothings,  such  as  every  one  has 
seen,  presuming  without  dignity,  assuming  with- 
out ability,  undecided  except  when  it  is  folly  to 
decide,  and  then  foolishly  tenacious.  Praised  for 
good  intentions,  his  career  does  not  sustain  it. 
Nature  denied  him  capacity  to  be  a  great  ron^ 
like  his  grandfather  Louis  the  Fifteenth,  or  his 
grandfather's  great-grandfather  Louis  the  Four- 
teenth. 

His  queen,  badly  brought  up,  was  impolite 
among  the  polite  French  ;  she  was  tactless  and 
frivolous  ;  she  was  neither  dignified  nor  elegant ; 
she  indulged  caprice  and  levity  ;  her  habits  hardly 
left  her  reputation  free  from  scandal* 

Her  mother,  the  Austrian  Empress,  Maria 
Theresa,  severely  chided  her  for  light  habits.f 

Louis  allowed  his  two  brothers  to  keep  very 
costly  households  at  the  nation's  expense.  His 
tax  system  was  so  wasteful  that  when  France 
paid  forty-one  million  livres,  only  twenty-three 
millions  reached  the  king.  Tax  gatherers  got  the 
rest. 

Louis  called  the  old  courtier,  Maurepas,  for 
advice.  That  cunning  man  assumed  to  be  prime 
minister.  "Not  that,"  replied  Louis.  "Then  I 
will  show  you  how  to  be  king  without  a  minister," 
responded  the  old  fraud,   and   he  kept  the  chief 

•  Martin.  1   Maria  Theresa,  Letters. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  1/ 

place  till  his  death  in  178 1.  He  was  a  witty, 
charming,  trivial  old  humbug. 

With  Maurepas  came  Madame,  his  wife.  That 
good  creature  knew  more  than  her  husband.  She 
had  a  heart.  Her  memory  should  be  cherished. 
She  chose  for  Controller  of  Finance  the  great  lib- 
eral statesman,  Turgot. 

Her  husband  and  the  king  opened  wide  their 
eyes  in  surprise.  Should  a  king  choose  Turgot  the 
half  republican  for  a  royal  minister  ? 

It  was  of  no  use  to  object.  The  good  Madame 
said  it  ;  she  put  down  her  small  foot ;  she  ruled 
her  husband.  She  required  him  to  require  the 
king  to  do  it.     It  was  done;  enter  Turgot,  1774. 

A  woman  knows  much  about  spending  money. 
She  knows  much,  too,  of  saving  it.  The  best 
investment  a  man  can  make  is  a  good  woman. 
Madame  Maurepas  was  worth  to  France  one  thou- 
sand times  her  weight  in  gold  coin  ;  one  hundred 
thousand  times  her  weight  in  husbands  like  hers. 
Had  she  been  sovereign  of  France,  and  Louis  a 
tinsmith,  then  would  the  tremendous  explosion  of 
France,  that  shook  the  world,  have  omitted  itself. 
Justice  and  honor  would  have  ruled. 

Madame  required  M.  Turgot  to  do  the  unheard- 
of  justice  in  France  of  allowing  any  one  who 
desired  to  make  goods  to  freely  make  them,  and 
any  one  who  had  anything  to  sell  to  sell  it.  This 
seems  very  simple.  Hut  the  most  profound  states- 
manship  of    France    had    not    reached    it.      The 


1 8  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

privilege  to  make,  to  haul,  to  buy,  to  sell,  were  all 
owned  as  monopoly.  The  right  to  carry  a  load  of 
wheat  to  market,  the  right  to  cross  a  river,  the 
right  to  make  even  a  plow  was  owned.  If  you 
were  poor  and  a  peasant,  you  must  pay  for  your 
"privileges."  You  must  pay,  to  those  to  whom 
kings  have  given  these  rights,  their  own  prices  to 
use  their  mill  to  grind  your  corn,  to  press  your 
grapes,  to  use  their  oven  to  bake  your  bread.  And 
you  must  pay  taxes  till  for  very  hunger  you  and 
your  loved  ones  wish  yourselves  dead. 

Turgot's  policy  was  :  no  bankruptcy ;  no  in- 
crease of  taxes  ;  no  loans  ;  no  royal  gifts  of  the 
nation's  money ;  reduction  of  royal  expenses  ; 
economy  ;  reform.  Louis  promised  it  all.  Prom- 
ising was  his  forte.     He  was  a  bad  performer. 

Turgot  wanted  to  remove  odious  taxes  and  have 
but  one  single,  equal  tax  laid  alike  on  all.  He 
wanted  free  manufacture,  free  commerce,  and  no 
crippling  of  labor. 

France  was  astonished.  France  was  suspicious 
of  Turgot.  What  a  policy  !  France  held  up  its 
hands.  Allow  a  man  to  raise  wheat  and  sell  it 
without  paying  the  king  for  the  privilege  !  Allow 
a  woman  to  make  butter  or  linen  and  not  pay  the 
lord  of  the  manor  for  that  right  !  Bar  the 
king  from  taking  your  money  and  giving  it  to 
Monsieur  the  prince  or  Madame  the  courtesan  ! 
Stop  the  starving  of  millions  of  peasants  !  Stop 
the  king  from  giving  as  Louis  the  Fifteenth  in 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  1 9 

five  years  gave  to  the  fair  but  frail  du  Barry  one 
hundred  and  eighty  million  livres.  The  nobles 
opposed  such  reform. 

Each  man  waited  the  king's  orders.  Law  regu- 
lated nothing  ;  no  one  originated  ;  lack  of  system 
or  of  justice  stifled  public  spirit ;  neither  nobles 
nor  people  were  expected  to  keep  order ;  that  was 
the  king's  business  ;  *  each  sought  his  own  escape 
from  ta.x. 

Large  owners  held  two  thirds  of  all  the  land  ; 
small  owners  one  third,  but  wild  game  for  the 
nobles'  benefit  must  go  at  large,  though  they  de- 
stroyed the  crop  on  which  depended  the  peasant's 
bread.  Severe  edicts  forbade  hoeing  and  weeding 
lest  the  brooding  partridges  be  disturbed.  The 
nobles  and  king  owned  all  the  game.  Tenants 
must  pay  toll  for  bruising  buckwheat  between 
stones. 

By  comee  they  were  forced  to  build  roads  with- 
out pay,  but  they  must  pay  when  they  used  these 
same  roads.  Land  was  subdivided  till  what  was 
needed  for  one  was  used  by  six.f 

Turtrot  wanted  to  remove  ruinous  burdens.  His 
plan  included  schools  ;  it  would  have  allowed  vil- 
lagers to  apportion  their  taxes  ;  to  care  for  the 
poor  ;  to  choose  local  deputies,  who  should  choose 
deputies  of  provincial  assemblies  ;  who  should 
send  deputies  to  a  General  Assembly  of  France. 

It    was   a   great    plan,   quite    at    variance    with 

»  Young's  Travels.  t  Turgot. 


20  THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

Rousseau.  Most  writers  date  the  Revolution  from 
May  5,  1789,  when  the  States-General  met.  But 
Turgot's  advent  began  the  Revolution  in  177 1. 
Later,  Turgot  saw  that  a  workman's  ability  to 
work  is  property  and  should  have  property  protec- 
tion.    He  wanted  reform  by  royalty,  not  against  it. 

Adam  was  not  more  surprised  at  Eve's  appear- 
ance in  Eden  than  was  France  at  Turgot's  new 
ideas.  Great  was  Madame  Maurepas  for  bringing 
Turgot  to  the  front. 

Louis  recalled  the  old  Paris  parliament,  he  har- 
assed and  embittered  it,  and  then  tried  to  force  it 
to  be  his  servile  tool.  But,  if  resistance  is  pos- 
sible, submission  to  insult  is  not  human  nature. 
Louis's  insults  spurred  it  to  opposition,  and  thus 
he  himself  inaugurated  the  great  struggle. 

Royal  extravagance  was  great  ;  king,  queen, 
princes  and  courtiers  squandered  the  nation's 
money.  Royalty  counteracted  Turgot's  reforms  ; 
the  nobles,  high  clergy,  and  tax  farmers  were 
Turgot's  foes. 

To  royal  and  noble  extortion,  was  added  in 
1774-75,  bread  scarcity.  Hunger  caused  riots. 
The  people  were  suffering,  starving.  Turgot  re- 
duced the  grain  tax,  but  hunger  drove  the  people 
wild.  He  gave  public  work,  but  hunger  increased. 
He  offered  premiums  for  imports  of  wheat,  but 
kings  had  given  away  the  right  to  haul  it  or  to 
make  bread  ;  monopolists  checked  relief  to  starv- 
ing France. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  21 

Suffering  drove  the  people  to  frenzy.  Mobs 
destroyed  stores  of  grain,  because  it  was  kept 
from  them.  The  people  were  very  hungry,  very 
angry,  very  raving,  but  who  will  not  rave  when 
the  children  starve  ?  Necker  attacked  Turgot's 
policy.  It  was  said  that  wheat  was  not  lacking,  but 
the  king's  law  for  its  distribution. 

A  hungry  mob  invaded  Versailles  (May  2,  1775)  ; 
they  shouted  to  Louis  for  bread.  He  tried  to 
address  them.  They  refused  to  listen.  Dishonest 
Louis  foolishly  tried  to  appease  them,  not  at  his 
expense,  but  that  of  merchants  ;  not  by  buying 
bread  for  charity,  but  by  an  arbitrary  discount  of 
the  price  of  bread.  It  was  not  a  reduction  of  price 
that  the  penniless  wanted,  it  was  bread  itself ;  but 
Louis  had  neither  the  kindness  to  feed  them  nor 
the  justice  to  protect  Paris.  His  act  sent  the 
mob  to  Paris  to  pillage  the  bakers'  shops.  Turgot, 
not  Louis,  quieted  the  riot.  Then  Louis  decreed 
the  old  price,  and  the  Paris  Parliament  headed  op- 
position. Louis  ordered  it  not  to  meet.  It  did 
meet,  and  placarded  Paris  with  requests  that  the 
king  provide  cheaper  bread. 

The  people  sided  against  Louis.  They  justly 
blamed  him  for  dear  bread.  His  reduction  of  price 
flew  all  over  France,  without  the  retraction. 
Mobs  seized  bread  at  prices  that  ruined  mer- 
chants ;  or  they  took  it  for  nothing.  France  was  in 
a  great  spasm  of  rioting.  Louis  brought  an  army 
to    Versailles,    but    for   what    he    did    not    know. 


22  THE    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

Turgot  required  him  to  give  energetic  orders,  but 
dishonest  Louis  tried  to  nullify  these  orders  ;  other 
and  better  men  suppressed  the  extensive  insurrec- 
tions. Turgot  proclaimed  that  enough  grain  exist- 
ed ;  that  the  price  was  not  for  the  king,  but  for 
demand  and  supply  to  regulate,  and  the  clergy  were 
angry  that  he  required  them  to  read  this  proclama- 
tion from  their  pulpits.  Pamphlets,  ballads,  carica- 
tures of  Louis,  the  Queen  and  Turgot  abounded. 

Louis  wanted  money.  He  always  wanted  money. 
Had  he  been  as  rich  as  an  American  railroad  king 
he  would  still  have  lacked  money. 

He  pretended  to  reduce  the  royal  expenses.  He 
did  so  only  on  days  when  he  had  no  money.  The 
first  receipt  of  taxes  again  inflated  them.  He  had 
two  brothers,  Monsieur  who  believed  nothing,  and 
d'Artois,  a  great  rowdy,  who  believed  everything. 
These  two  kept  hotel  for  the  court,  at  the  peo- 
ple's expense,  with  board  but  without  those  dis- 
agreeable things  board  bills. 

Turgot  wanted  the  coronation  to  be  at  Paris  in- 
stead of  at  Rhcims.  It  would  save  eight  million 
livres.  He  wanted  to  omit  the  king's  oath  to 
exterminate  heretics.  Louis  dared  not.  So  to 
Rheimsthe  king  went  and  took  the  oath,  and  spent 
the  money  that  would  have  bought  a  great  quan- 
tity of  bread  for  his  starving  subjects. 

The  high  clergy  petitioned  Louis  to  deny  to 
Protestants  the  right  of  meeting,  marriage,  and 
the  teaching  of   their  own    children.      If  Protes- 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  23 

tants  would  persist  in  having  children  they  must 
be  taught  to  be  Catholics. 

Tax  farmers  terribly  oppressed  France.  So  un- 
certain were  Louis'  taxes  that  none  knew  what 
sum  they  ought  to  pay.  A  mere  tax  clerk  might 
decide.  Laborers  were  responsible  for  laborers' 
taxes,  so  that  the  delinquents  fell  back  upon  those 
who  could  pay  ;  a  great  unfairness.  Some  of  the 
taxes  had  no  law.  Such  was  the  odious  corvee 
(forced  labor).     Everything  was  arbitrary. 

January,  1776,  Turgot  asked  Louis  to  abolish 
corvee,  to  put  the  road  tax  on  land,  to  let  all  land 
pay  its  share,  to  remove  vexatious  taxes  from 
food,  to  make  manufacturing  free  to  all,  to 
abolish  the  many  useless  offices  that  hamper  trade 
and  labor,  to  legalize  Protestant  marriages,  and 
to  reduce  the  monstrous  expenses  of  the  king's 
household.  Against  Turgot  swarmed  a  host  of 
holders  of  undeserved  and  unearned  pensions, 
donations,  privileges  of  which  they  had  swindled 
France.  But  for  the  time  Turgot  had  the  ear  of 
the  king  and  Louis  signed  these  edicts.  It  was 
easier  for  him  to  sign  than  to  adhere. 

Then  the  Paris  Parliament  rose  in  opposition. 
It  held  that  feudal  claims  and  the  right  to  extort 
forced  road  labor  were  the  property  of  nobles. 
Now  that  the  wealthy  land  owners  were  to  pay  the 
road  tax  on  land,  they  denounced  it  as  ruinous, 
though  they  had  long  compelled  the  poor  to  pay 
it  in  Inhnr  without  recompense. 


24  THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

In  spite  of  all  the  extravagances  of  queen,  court, 
and  nobles,  Turgot's  ability  had  overcome  the 
deficiency.  Business  revived,  money  became 
easier ;  it  dropped  to  four  per  cent.  Turgot  was 
on  the  high  road  to  make  France  again  prosperous. 

But  queen,  nobles,  and  high  clergy  intrigued. 
Forged  letters  in  his  name  were  put  into  the  mail. 
Louis  was  known  to  meanly  violate  the  mails,  to 
break  seals.  He  stole  letters,  he  got  these 
forged  ones.  They  were  intended  to  provoke 
him  to  dismiss  Turgot.  The  plot  succeeded.  The 
mail  robber  sent  away  his  able  minister. 

Lack  of  business  confidence,  dullness,  new  dis- 
tress followed  the  disastrous  step. 

The  treacherous  king  restored  the  odious  forced 
labor,  retracted  freedom  to  manufacture,  restored 
old  oppressions.  The  false  Louis  was  laying  up 
wrath  against  himself. 


in. 


IN    June,    1777,    Necker   became    Controller   of 
Finance.      He  was  not  made  a  minister  be- 
cause he  was  a  Protestant.     He  borrowed  freely  and 
gave   the   appearance    of    prosperity. 
Necker.         He  abolishcd  over  five  hundred  sine- 
cures.    He  tried  to  remove  the  tolls 
by  which   rivers  and  roads  were  obstructed.     He 
obtained  thirty  million  livres  from  the  high  clergy. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  2$ 

He  abolished  mortmain  ;  he  freed  the  king's 
serfs  ;  the  Jura  monks  refused  to  free  theirs  unless 
paid  for  them  ;  those  monks  had  to  settle  with 
the  serfs  in  the  Revolution  afterwards. 

Necker  abolished  the  compelling  confession  of 
guilt.     (August  8,  1780.) 

Necker  astonished  France  and  gratified  it  by- 
publishing  his  Report  of  the  finances.  Such  a 
Report  was  never  before  published  in  France. 
The  effect  was  prodigious.  It  was  light  in  fiscal 
darkness.  It  seemed  like  progress.  It  indicated 
longed-for  reforms.  France  believed  it.  France 
believed  in  Necker.  It  believed  that  exposure  of 
faults  meant  that  those  faults  would  now  be  re- 
moved. Why  publish  an  evil  but  to  reform  .'' 
France  saw  in  that  Report  twenty-eight  millions  in 
pensions,  double  that  of  the  rest  of  Europe.*  It 
saw  gross  inequalities.  But  it  looked  for  better 
days. 

That  Report  showed  a  surplus  for  1781.  The 
surplus  appeared  by  omissions  ;  it  was  not  real. 
But  it  helped  the  controller  to  a  great  loan. 

But  losers  of  sinecures,  pensioned  nobles  and 
clergy,  swindlers  of  hVancc  who  feared  recla- 
mation, the  king's  two  brothers  who  wanted  un- 
limited freedom  to  spend  the  nation's  money  were 
all  against  Necker  and  equity. 

Nccker's  loan  furnished  money  for  a  year.  lie 
asked  to  be  made   a    minister.     Louis   made  the 

•Martin.  Vol.  II.  p.  ^50. 


26  THE    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

condition  that  Necker  must  renounce  his  Protes- 
tant religion.  Necker  manfully  refused.  He 
asked  to  have  inspection  of  purchases  for  army 
and  navy.  Again  Louis  refused.  Necker  then 
resigned  May  12,  1781.  The  trifling  Louis 
never  forgave  Necker  that  his  resignation  was 
written  on  small  paper  without  address  or  title. 

Freed  from  the  wholesome  restraint  of  Necker's 
presence,  Louis,  only  three  days  later,  showed  his 
own  innate  arrogance  and  injustice  by  decreeing 
that  candidates  for  even  the  lowest  army  com- 
missions must  prove  noble  descent  for  four  gen- 
erations !  Nearly  all  the  French  were  excluded  ! 
Sons  of  persons  ennobled  three  generations  before 
were  barred  out.  The  same  rule  was  practiced 
with  applicants  for  clergy  places. 

By  this  insolent  act,  at  once  odious  and  useless, 
Louis  dealt  a  severe  blow  to  himself.  It  refreshed 
the  anger  of  the  army,  the  navy,  the  people, 
already  aroused  by  his  many  acts  of  arrogance 
and  treachery.  It  outraged  the  French  people's 
sense  of  equity. 

Louis  restored  many  of  the  useless  offices  that 
Necker  had  abolished,  and  increased  again  the 
taxes  of  the  poorer  classes.  They  must  pay  for 
these  restored  sinecures. 

Louis  always  claimed  the  exclusive  right  to 
make  all  laws  and  decide  on  all  taxes.  But  he 
recklessly  violated  the  old  laws  and  equity  and 
customs,  by  arbitrary  caprices,  sometimes  by  gross 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  2/ 

offense  against  the  poor,  hard-working  cures  ;  then 
against  the  nobles  ;  again  he  attacked  the  vital 
interests  of  the  French  merchants  ;  then  of  the 
manufacturers;  and  finally  of  the  business  classes, 
making  himself  practically  the  enemy  of  his 
people. 

Space  is  lacking  to  enumerate  his  many  acts  of 
cruel  folly,  ill  temper  and  malice. 

Joli  d'Fleuri  and  then  d'Ormesson  followed  as 
finance  Ministers. 

When  the  extravagance  and  folly  of  the  royal 
family  had  made  a  financial  stringency,  so  severe 
that  d'Ormesson  could  not  borrow,  and  had  forced 
the  bank  to  lend  France  six  million  livres,  the 
foolish  Louis  whose  dull  mind  could  always  find 
some  means  to  outrage  France,  had  no  more  com- 
mon sense  or  good  disposition  than  to  buy  Ram- 
bouillet  for  himself,  with  fourteen  million  livres  of 
the  nation's  money,  and  he  did  not  even  mention  it 
to  France's  hard-pressed  controller  of  finance  who 
must  find  the  money  and  pay  the  bill.  This  secret 
fraud  became  known.  People  rushed  to  the  bank 
to  withdraw  their  money  ;  the  iiiii  was  severe  ;  it 
became  panic  ;  it  spread  rapidly  ;  money  hid  itself  ; 
distress  became  general  ;  l''raiice  was  suffering 
intensely  hnm  Louis  the  bad-intentioncd,  the 
thief.  The  public  conscience  of  llial  honorable 
nation  was  touched.  It  condemned  the  theft;  it 
was  profoundly  dissatisfied  with  the  corrupt  and 
stupid  king  anrl   with  the  frivolous  queen,  whose 


28  THK    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

own  mother*  had  written  in  1776,  "She  is  hurry- 
ing; at  great  pace  to  her  ruin."  f 

It  was  no  more  ri,i;ht  for  Louis  to  buy  Ram- 
bouillct  with  the  money  of  France  than  it  would  be 
for  President  Harrison  to  buy  with  public  money 
the  Hotel  Brunswick  for  his  own  private  use. 

Just  when  Necker's  Report  had  inspired  hope, 
Louis,  by  tyrannical  reaction,  lavished  gifts  in 
State  and  Church,  on  unworthy  high  nobles,  in- 
creased odious  taxes,  making  the  poor  still  poorer 
and  the  rich  still  richer,  so  now  he  did  not  reform 
even  when  the  terrible  effects  of  his  folly  were 
ruining  France.  He  was  plunging  it  deeper  and 
deeper  in  debt ;  even  the  monstrous  taxes  that  he 
extorted  were  so  wasted  as  not  to  keep  up  with 
royal  and  courtly  prodigality. 


IV. 


THREE   and   a  half   years   after  Necker,  on 
October  30,  1784,  Louis  made  Calonne  con- 
troller of  finance.     Calonne  found  a  great  debt,  a 
great  deficiency,  an   empty  treasury. 
Calonne.         He   formed    a   deceptive,    compound 
interest    sinking    fund.      His    policy 
was   to    spend    money    freely,  to    appear    rich    in 
order  to  be  able  to  borrow.     He  hesitated  at  no 

•  Maria  Theresa's  letter. 

t  "  She  tried  to  restrain  her  giddy,  reckless  daughter  till  her  death  in  1708." 
— Alison,  Vol.  I.  p.  56. 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  29 

extravagance.  He  lavished  money  and  gifts ;  he 
dazzled  by  sumptuous  display.  He  brought  back 
old  abuses.  He  held  the  treasury  wide  open  to 
the  follies  of  the  lavish  Queen,  the  princes,  the 
avaricious  high  nobles.  The  king's  brothers  had 
immense  sums.  The  Queen  bought  magnificent 
St.  Cloud  with  the  nation's  money.  This  was  a 
bold  embezzlement,  but  such  were  frequent.  The 
treasury  paid  debts  for  nobles.  Ruined  courtiers 
had  relief  from  it.  Everything  was  corrupt, 
everything  dishonest  like  the  dishonest  royal  pair. 
Calonne  gave  from  the  treasury  for  mere  asking. 
Speculation  was  rampant.  The  golden  days  of 
roguery  had  come.  Royal  orders  on  the  treasury 
were  prodigious  ;  they  exceeded  those  of  bad  Louis 
the  Fifteenth.  They  were  as  secret  as  possible  ; 
false  Louis  pretended  economy  while  he  squan- 
dered at  a  mad  rate.  He  made  offices  to  sell  for 
money.  Frauds  luxuriated.  He  increased  farmers' 
taxes  from  twelve  to  forty-eight  per  cent.,  and  let 
them  buy  suspended  rescripts  at  low  price,  and  he 
redeemed  them  at  par  ;  a  fraud  on  France.  The 
unloving  bride  and  groom  had  now  become  a  lov- 
ing pair.  The  very  scandals  she  had  raised  drove 
her  to  Louis.  Her  influence  over  him  now  be- 
came very  damaging  to  France.  Her  brother, 
the  Emperor  of  Germany,  Joseph  the  Second, 
begged  her  to  reform  her  actions. 

Calonnc's  first  great  loans  were  exhausted.     He 
wanted  another.    The  parliament  refused  its  assent. 


30         TiiF.  world's  greatest  conflict. 

Bad  Louis  compelled  it  (December  30,  1784). 
He  forced  the  money  for  the  folly  of  himself,  the 
queen,  the  court,  and  favorites.  Stock  gambling 
ran  wild.  Calonne  annulled  all  short  sales.  Bank- 
ers were  deep  in  them,  panic  came,  money  sud- 
denly hid  itself,  the  bank  asked  aid.  Calonne 
handed  out  twelve  million  of  treasury  credits  to  his 
friends  to  sustain  public  credit  ;  they  omitted  to 
repay  it  and  credit  was  not  restored. 

1774-85  saw  two  severe  winters;  the  second 
was  followed  by  excessive  drought,  and  rural 
France  was  very  wretched.  Still  Louis  had  no 
mercy ;  his  royal  taxes  on  the  third  order  were 
violently  extorted. 


V. 


GENEVA  tried  to  escape   from    aristocratic 
rule.     But  Louis,  with  Sardinia  and  Berne, 
compelled    submission.     The  French  with  regret 
saw  this  oppression  of  Louis  in  Switz- 
1782.  erland. 

While  Joseph  the  Second  of  Austria 
was  making  liberal  reforms  with  a  free  hand,  Louis 
was  thus  subduing  a  free  foreign  city. 

It  has  been  the  fashion  for  writers  while  admit- 
ting his  lack  of  ability,  to  praise  Louis  for  "good 
intentions,"  but  when  we  look  for  the  particular 


THE    WORLDS    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  3 1 

acts  or  deeds  of  "good  intention,"  we  fail  to  find 
them.  We  do,  however,  find  him  in  many  acts 
the  marplot  of  what  good  men  like  Turgot,  La- 
fayette, Lanjuinais  would  do. 


VI. 


EVEN    in    Austria,    under    Maria    Theresa, 
nobility   and    clergy   were    taxed,    though 
lightly,  and    peasants    had  appeal  to 
courts,  while  all  this  was  lacking  in  Joseph 

France.  the  second  of 

Joseph  the  Second  (1780-90)  pro-  Austria, 
claimed  uniform  Austrian  courts  and 
administration,  unity  of  tax.  He  abolished  tithes, 
corvee  and  primogeniture.  He  made  himself  in- 
dependent of  the  Pope ;  he  forbade  Rome's 
foreign  interference ;  suppressed  two  thousand 
convents  ;  kept  seven  hundred  for  teaching ;  re- 
duced the  great  number  of  clergy  from  sixty- 
three  thousand  to  twenty-seven  thousand  ;  for- 
bade pilgrimages  ;  instituted  toleration,  moral 
catechism,  civil  marriage ;  established  many  hos- 
))itals  and  asylums,  permitted  a  free  press  and 
limited  executions  to  assassins.  He  promoted 
arts,  manufactures  and  commerce.  He  tried  to 
absorb  Bavaria.  The  offended  French  laid  blame 
to  his  sister,  their  Queen  Marie  Antoinette. 

Joseph  the  Sccjnd  threatened  Hnllanil  in    1785. 


3J  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

He  demanded  ten  million  florins.  Holland  would 
pay  but  five  million  five  hundred  thousand.  To 
prevent  war  between  Austria  and  Holland,  Louis 
the  Si.xteenth  paid  the  balance  four  million  five 
hundred  thousand  with  French  money.  This  pay- 
ment shocked  French  pride.  Again  they  blamed 
their  queen.  They  had  long  stigmatized  her  as 
"  the  Austrian." 


VII. 

IN  1785  France  was  deluged  with  royal  scandal 
by  an  affair  of  a  necklace.     Cardinal  d' Rohan 
was  a  bad  character.     He  secretly  bought  a  neck- 
lace on  credit,  in  the  queen's  name. 
A  Diamond       It  was  worth  onc  million  six  hundred 
Necklace.        thousaud  Hvrcs  (about  three  hundred 
thousand  dollars).     He  showed  a  let- 
ter signed   "  Marie   Antoinette  d'France."     Pay- 
time  came,  the  merchant  asked  for  his  money  and  so 
Louis  discovered  the  affair.     He  ordered  the  arrest 
of  the  bad  cardinal.     D'Rohan  demanded  trial  by 
parliament.     The  Pope  suspended  him  for  recog- 
nizing the  civil  authority  of  parliament  to  try  him  a 
prince  of  the  church. 

D'Rohan  had  to  retract  his  demand  for  such  trial, 
but  parliament  held  the  case,  the  first  trial  of  a 
Roman  Catholic  prelate  by  a  secular  court. 

The  queen  was  in  a  great  panic  ;  so  was  Paris  ; 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  33 

SO  was  France.  Was  she  guilty  .=>  Everybody 
asked  it.  Most  persons  believed  it ;  others, 
through  hate,  wished  it. 

The  queen  denied  that  she  had  authorized  him 
to  buy  the  necklace.  Here  was  plain  battle  be- 
tween the  queen  and  the  church  prince.  France 
was  against  her  ;  her  bad  behavior  had  made  for 
her  a  bad  reputation.  France  believed  "  the 
Austrian  "  capable  of  almost  any  wickedness.  If 
guilty,  it  was  not  her  first  offense.  Her  habits 
had  invited  distrust. 

Had  d' Rohan  been  the  dupe  of  another  swind- 
ling woman.  La  Motte  ?  Was  the  letter  forged  ? 
Or  had  he  really  bought  the  magnificent  necklace 
for  the  queen  without  her  husband's  knowledge  ? 
Nothing  would  acquit  her  in  the  public  mind  but 
proof  of  innocence  ;  thus  the  burden  of  proof  was 
put  on  her. 

Before  the  court  of  public  opinion  it  was  the 
queen  that  was  being  tried,  the  queen's  honor  on 
which  verdict  was  given.  A  good  moral  character 
in  that  day  would  have  been  priceless  to  her. 

It  was  extreme  folly  for  Louis  to  bring  this 
suit,  to  parade  his  wife's  damaged  reputation  be- 
fore France.  But  Louis  was  a  man  of  folly.  He 
was  already  at  loggerheads  with  his  parliauicnt. 
The  arrogant  blockhead,  at  this  critical  time, 
again  quarrelled  with  and  insulted  and  abused 
this  very  body  of  men  till  he  goaded  them  to  rage 
about  a  new  loan    that  he  demanded,  and  which 


34  TIIK    WOKLP'S    (iREATEST    CONFLICT. 

they  unanimously  refused  to  sanction.  By  arbi- 
trary orders  he  compelled  them  to  register  it,  thus 
humiliated  them,  made  them  to  feel  anew  the  keen 
sting  of  bad  royalty,  and  then  sent  his  wife's  honor 
to  public  trial  before  this  insulted  parliament. 

Princes  of  the  blood  openly  canvassed  against 
the  qeeen.*  It  was  not,  as  many  writers  have 
given  the  impression,  the  common  people  only,  it 
was  the  highest  nobles  as  well  that  abhorred  the 
"Austrian  woman." 

For  nine  months  the  scandalous  trial  continued. 
Then  by  five  majority,  all  of  them  of  the  higher 
class  of  French  society,  the  debauchee  cardinal 
was  acquitted.     The  queen  was  stigmatized. 

Parliament  condemned  the  Cardinal's  accom- 
plice, Madame"  La  Motte,  to  be  whipped,  im- 
prisoned, and  branded  on  each  shoulder  with  a 
letter  V.   {  Volcnr  —  thief.) 

Where  was  the  diamond  necklace?  Just  that 
France  wished  and  still  wishes  to  know. 

The  cardinal  was  unloved  ;  he  was  a  bad  char- 
acter ;  the  French  did  not  admire  him  ;  yet  so  dis- 
reputable was  the  queen  that  the  people  were 
wild  with  delight  over  his  acquittal ;  they  gave  him 
an  ovation  ;  everybody  but  stupid  royalty  had  fore- 
seen the  result. 

Probably  the  queen  was  not  guilty  in  the  neck- 
lace affair,  but  the  public  mind  was  ready  to  con- 
demn   her   as   a  return    for   other   misdeeds.     If 

•  Madame  Canipan's  Memoirs,  Vol.  II.  p.  286. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  35 

guilty,  then  this  crime  was  of  far  less  magnitude 
than  her  known  knavery  in  purchase  of  St.  Cloud 
with  public  money. 


VIII. 

CALONNE  over-issued  the  loans  of  1781-82, 
and    thus   fraudulently  obtained  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-three  million  livres. 
Credit  was   low,  and    dying ;    in   the         Another 
ten    years  since   Turgot    royal    taxes       great  fraud, 
and    royal    and    court    extravagance 
had  been  increased  to  a  monstrous  extent.     For 
this  the  king  and  queen  were  directly  responsi- 
ble.    They  were   the   tax  layers,  the  squanderers 
of  F"rench  substance. 

"There  exists  an  annual  deficit  of  one  hundred 
million,"  said  Calonne  to  Louis. 

Even  the  reckless  and  prodigal  Calonne  now 
called  for  a  halt  in  their  monstrous  iniquity.  He 
asked  for  a  reform.  He  proposed  creating  parish, 
district  and  province  assemblies  to  levy  and  appor- 
tion ta.xes,  to  tax  land  so  that  the  acres  of  the 
nobles  then  exempt  must  bear  their  share  of  bur- 
den, to  abolish  forced  labor  of  jioor  peasants  to 
make  the  roads,  to  remove  the  tariffs  between 
towns  and  between  city  and  country,  to  take  away 
all  taxes  that  hamper  inchistry  and  trade,  to  sell 
the  king's  lands  to  pay  his  debts,  to  reduce  the 


36         Till':  world's  greatest  conflict. 

kind's  own  household  and  expenses  by  twenty 
million  a  year.*  Great  proposals  to  come  from  a 
bad  minister. 

"  This  is  pure  Ncckcrism,"  said  Louis. 

"  I  can  give  you  nothing  better,"  responded 
Calonne. 

Parliament  would  not  register  Calonne's  plan. 
Then  he  said  to  Louis:  "France  at  this  moment 
is  only  kept  up  by  a  species  of  artifice." 


IX. 

CALONNE  called  for  a  convocation  of  notable 
persons   for  advice.     They  came  together 
on    February    22,   1787.     Notables    had    no   legal 
authority.     They  were  convoked,  but 
The  Notables      they  wcrc    merely   a   debating    club, 
convoked.        They  did   not    abolish    privileges    or 
make  taxes   equal.     They  comprised 
seven    royal    princes,  thirty-six  dukes,  peers  and 
marshals,  fourteen  high  clericals,  thirty-eight  mag- 
istrates, several  officials,  and  only  seven  commoners 
out  of  the  total  one  hundred  and  forty-four  ;  ninety- 
eight  per  cent,  of  the  French  were  not  represented. 
They  were  a  phantom.     They  demanded  a  true 
statement  of  receipts  and  expenditures.     Calonne 
refused  ;    they  persisted ;    they   wanted    to    know 
the  extent  and  nature  of  the  deficits.     For  what 

•  Calonne's  precis  d' 74,1  Plan,  Droz,  Vol.  I.  p.  4O1.     Bailie,  Vol.  II.  p.  267. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  37 

is  money  wanted  ?  This  was  a  very  embarrassing 
question  for  king  and  queen,  and  also  for  Calonne. 
He  did  not  yield.  The  revolution  commenced 
with  the  parliaments  and  "  privileged  classes."  It 
was  already  getting  headway. 

The  queen  disliked  Calonne  personally.  She 
disliked  the  tendencies  of  France.  April  9,  1787, 
she  induced  Louis  to  dismiss  him.  Louis  pre- 
tended to  give  the  statement  required,  but  it  was 
not  clear.  The  notables  referred  the  whole  mat- 
ter back  to  the  bewildered  king  and  dispersed 
themselves,  a  failure.     (May  25,  1787.) 

Louis  called  from  the  church  Lomenie  (d'Brienne) 
to  take  charge  of  the  finances.  He,  though  an 
archbishop,  was  an  atheist.  A  plan  was  made  : 
(I.),  free  trade  in  grain,  (2.),  provincial  assemblies, 
(3.),  abolish  forced  labor  {corvc'c),  (4.),  have  a 
stamp  tax,  (5.),  and  a  land  tax. 

Had  Louis  pressed  all  five  measures  at  once,  he 
must  have  succeeded.  But,  always  incompetent, 
he  offered  the  first  three,  which  parliament  regis- 
tered ;  then  waited  till  their  willingness  had  gone 
l)y,  and  offered  the  stamp  tax. 

To  this  parliament  responded  by  calling  for  the 
financial  accounts  ;  then  it  refused  by  voting  that 
only  States-General  could  grant  general  taxes. 
Louis  peremptorily  compelled  parliament  to  regis- 
ter these  edicts.  Il  |)r()testcd  its  grief  at  having 
been  compelled,  in  this  reign,  to  register  enormous 
increase  of  taxes.      (y\ugust  6,  1787.) 


43i<J8:2 


38  THE    WdKI.n's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

Next  day  parliament  declared  their  forced  regis- 
try null  and  void.  An  immense  crowd  outside 
manifested  delight  at  this  abrogation  act.  France 
was  tired  of  its  inefficient,  wasteful  king  and 
queen.  Louis  exiled  the  resisting  parliament  to 
Troyes.* 

The  alarmed  Lomenie  suppressed  a  few  useless 
places.  The  court  made  outcry  for  this  loss  of 
plunder.  He  had  Calonne  indicted  ;  but  the  peo- 
ple regarded  it  as  an  indictment  of  queen  and 
corrupt  court. 

Louis  sent  the  stamp  tax  decree  to  be  registered 
in  the  Chamber  of  Accounts  and  Court  of  Aids. 
Both  responded  by  demanding  recall  of  the  par- 
liament and  assembly  of  the  States-General.  Re- 
volution was  revolving.  France  had  three  parties  : 
one  of  abuses  ;  a  larger  one,  that  wanted  to  take 
to  themselves  much  of  the  king's  arbitrary  power, 
and  maintain  abuses  for  their  own  noble  and 
clergy  orders  ;  a  third,  and  much  the  largest,  the 
party  of  reform  and  redress. 

The  second  and  third  parties  held  that  only  a 
representative  assembly  from  all  France,  the 
"  States-General,"  could  grant  the  much-needed 
reform  and  the  equality  of  taxes  ;  could  relieve 
France  from  ruin  caused  by  the  political  crimes  of 
its  kings. 

Clubs  sprang  into  existence.  They  began  with 
the  Breton  Club.     Clubs  became    hotbeds  of  op- 

•  Aliion,  Vol.  I.  p.  6i. 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  39 

position  to  Louis.  His  ministers  closed  these 
clubs.  Then  people  cried  out  against  the  queen 
"Madame  Deficit!"  as  they  had  cried  "the 
Austrian  !  "  France  was  deeply  agitated.  Parlia- 
ments, tribunals,  magistracies,  demanded  the  recall 
of  the  Paris  parliament,  and  the  convocation  of 
the  States.  The  electricity  of  revolution  was  in 
the  air.  The  calls  were  vehement.  The  French 
were  in  earnest.  Louis  withdrew  his  two  tax 
edicts  and  let  the  parliament  come  back  to  Paris. 

Louis  would  convoke  States-Generals  for  five 
years  if  parliament  would  register  a  series  of 
annual  loans  of  four  hundred  and  twenty  million 
livres  for  that  time.  Louis  called  the  parliament  to 
him.  He  made  a  speech.  His  ministers  declared 
this  scheme  registered.  It  was  a  knavish  trick. 
The  Duke  of  Orleans  protested.  Louis  sent  him 
away.  The  parliament  voted  that  arbitrary  arrests 
were  illegal.  Louis  ordered  this  vote  struck 
from  their  register.  It  demanded  fixed  terms  of 
magistrates.  Louis  refused.  Magistrates  must  be 
held  in  his  arbitrary  power  by  chance  of  re- 
moval. He  ordered  freedom  of  Protestants.  This 
the  parliament  vetoed,  and  it  opposed  an  illegal 
tax  ;  it  resolved  against  arrests  except  for  imme- 
diate hearing  by  competent  magistrates  ;  and 
it  voted  in  favor  of  only  legal  exercise  of  the  king's 
functions.     It  voted  for  States-General. 

Louis  caused  his  council  to  annul  these  votes  of 
parliament,  and  he  ordered  the  arbitrary  arrest  of 


40  THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST   CONFLICT. 

two  members,  Barthelemy  and  Goesland,  for  mak- 
inj:;;  these  motions.  This  is  the  same  Louis  whom 
writers  have  taught  us  to  regard  as  "  well  inten- 
tioned  !  "  Major  Agoust  came  with  soldiers  to 
make  the  arrests.  Parliament  had  voted  the  ses- 
sion permanent.  Nobody  could  point  out  which 
men  they  were.  After  thirty-six  hours  session 
the  two  members  "  yielded  to  force  "  and  were 
sent  to  distant  fortress  prisons.  This  despotic 
foolishness,  imprisoning  members  for  doing  their 
duty,  gave  fresh  irritation  to  France.  Louis  ar- 
bitrarily reduced  the  parliament  to  sixty-nine 
members.  He  meant  to  punish  it  into  obedience. 
He  took  away  its  political  powers  and  announced 
a  plenary  court  of  high  courtiers  to  register 
his  edicts.  This  bogus  court  met  but  once, 
was  discordant  and  adjourned  indefinitely.  Louis 
prorogued  all  parliaments,  while  he  should  create 
new  courts  to  suit  his  purposes.  Paris  was  still 
calm.  But  France  itself  was  greatly  excited. 
Noblesse  and  peasants,  all  classes,  opposed  the 
arbitrary  measures.  Tumults  began  ;  revolts 
threatened.  All  demanded  States-General.  Louis 
did  not  want  that  Legislature.  He  wanted  money  ; 
absolute  rule.  He  would  sell  some  few  national 
rights  to  his  people  for  great  sums  of  continuous 
money  to  spend.  He  would  have  had  money 
enough  if  he  would  guard  the  treasury  from  all 
but  honest  demands.  The  treasury  was  empty, 
Lomenie  appealed  to  the  clergy.     They  gave  him 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  4I 

less  than  two  millions.*  They  protested  against 
taxing  their  property,  though  they  had  vast  pos- 
sessions. Louis  exempted  it  from  his  tax  decrees. 
Though  Louis  compelled  registry  of  the  great 
loans,  nobody  would  subscribe  money  to  them. 
Resources  were  gone.  Credit  was  lacking.  Coin 
payments  were  stopped.  Something  must  be 
done.  It  was  the  bad-intentioned  Louis  and  his 
not  well-intentioned  queen,  and  the  evil  court 
royal  that  had  brought  France  to  this.  It  was  all 
avoidable,  had  royalty  been  honest  and  capable. 


X. 


LOUIS  had  offended  all  classes.  None  had 
confidence  in  him.  In  provincial  towns  it 
was  the  privileged  orders  that  gave  much  of  the 
adverse  influence. 

Rouen  parliament  declared  as  trait-     open  Revoiu- 
ors  all  who  obeyed  Louis's  new  court       t'on  began 
decrees  ;  Louis  exiled  that  parliament.       J"'y  »7- 1788. 

Brittany  blazed  with  opposition. 
The  nobles  declared  imfamous  any  who  should 
accept  office  in  his  new  courts.  A  regiment 
refused  to  obey  him.  Twelve  gentlemen  were 
sent  to  Louis  to  denounce  his  ministry.  He  sent 
them  to  the  Bastille.     He  sent  sixteen  thousand 

*  Unc  miUiun  eight  hundred  thuubaiid  livrcb. 


42  TIIK    WOKLD's    C.RKATEST    CONFLICT. 

troops  into  Brittany.     Not  overawed,  the  Iketons 
still  vigorously  opposed. 

The  Pyrenees  valleys  were  almost  in  insurrection. 
At  Grenoble  the  people  took  arms,  erected  barri- 
cades, drove  back  the  soldiers.  Louis  exiled  the 
parliament  of  Grenoble ;  the  people  brought  it 
back  ;  the  people  called  together  the  States  of 
Dauphiny.  This  was  revolt.  This  began  active 
revolution,  July,  1788.*  The  States  met;  one 
half  of  the  deputation  was  from  the  third  order, 
and  they  met  in  one  chamber.  The  States  refused 
any  new  tax  till  the  States-General  should  meet. 

Anarchy  was  too  common.  By  his  arbitrary, 
foolish  reign,  his  despotic  assumption  of  all  power 
to  make  laws  ;  his  refusal  of  wholesome  restraints  ; 
his  bad  disposition  and  intentions  ;  his  unreliable 
character  ;  his  reckless  waste  of  the  money  and 
credit  of  France,  and  the  unpopular  character  of  his 
queen,  and  follies  of  his  court,  Louis  had  made 
wreck  of  his  government.  Let  no  one  call  that 
man  "well-intentioned"  who  deliberately  pros- 
trates the  happiness,  the  business,  the  prosperity 
of  a  whole  great,  brave  people. 

With  his  government  blocked,  Louis  was  driven 
by  lack  of  funds,  to  call  (August  8,  1788)  the 
States-General  to  meet  May,  1789. 

The  bank  had  suspended  specie  payment  ;  the 
ministry  fell.     At  this  fall  the  public  rejoiced  with 

•  This  active  revolution  really  began  July  17,  17S8,  though  it  is  usually  de- 
icribed  as  beginning  July  14,  1789,  with  the  capture  of  the  Bastile. 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  43 

illuminations,  fireworks,  shouts,  music  and  riots. 
Still  the  queen  caused  the  scandalously  immoral 
archbishop  Lomenie  the  atheist  to  be  made  a  car- 
dinal. A  lascivious  atheist  cardinal  !  No  wonder 
both  Catholic  and  disbelieving  French  were  scan- 
dalized. The  people  broke  out  in  fury.  Troops 
gave  bloody  suppression  to  a  riot  August  28, 
1788. 


XI. 


LOUIS  was  compelled  to  recall  Necker.     The 
Paris  mob  fairly  howled  with  joy  for  Neck- 
er's   return.      Public  funds    rose  thirty  per  cent. 
lie    pledged    his  own   great  fortune. 
He  obtained  advances.    The    parlia-  Necker 

ments  were  reinstated.  The  bank  Again:  1788. 
resumed.  The  Paris  parliament  reg- 
istered the  call  for  States-General  "as  in  1614." 
This  woukl  cancel  the  equal  vote  and  make  the 
Third  P2state,*  representing  twenty-four  million  or 
more  people,  only  equal  to  one  half  that  of  noblesse 
and  clergy  representing  si.x  hundred  thousand,  a 
gross  inequality  ;  and  Poictiers  districts  with  seven 
hundred  thousand  persons  would  have  no  more 
deputies  than  Dourdan  with  eight  thousand.  No 
more  of  "  as  in  1614"  for  I^Vance.  Shouts,  growls, 
howls  oi  disajjproval  ran  through  France. 

•  "The  Third   Est.ilc   is  the   French  nation  minus   the  nobles  and  clergy," 
•aid  Abbe  Sicyo  iti  ijia. 


44     THE  WORLDS  GREATEST  CONFLICT. 

Louis  decreed  to  this  twenty-four  million  one 
half  of  the  whole  number  of  deputies,  to  the  six  hun- 
dred thousand  noblesse  and  clergy,  the  other  half, 
and  representations  "  on  basis  of  combined  tax  and 
populations."  I\Iany  common  people  did  not  vote. 
The  middle  class  generally  made  the  elections.* 
Among  noblesse  and  clergy  was  much  disagree- 
ment and  clamor. 


XII. 

A  FULL    States-General    would     have    been 
eleven  hundred   and   seven   members,  but 
some  localities  had  failed  to  elect. f 

Eleven   hundred  and   twenty-eight 

The  Active       dcputics   appeared    and    marched    in 

French  grand   procession   (May   4)   with  the 

Revolution.       j^j^^  ^^  Versailles.     Nobles  and  high 

States-Gen-       clcrgy  displayed  magnificent  apparel. 

erai.  (1789.)       But  it  was  the  plainly-dressed  Third 

Estate   who    received    the    rapturous 

applause   of  the  innumerable  multitude. 

The  five   hundred  and   sixty-five  Third  Estate 
deputies  represented  about  ninety-seven  per  cent, 
of  the  French  people  ;  the  five  hundred  and  sixty- 
three  nobles  and  clergy  only  about  two  per  cent. 
A  great  struggle  was  made  by  nobles  and  high 

•  Martin,  Vol.  II.  p.  572. 

t  Thiers'  French  Revolution,  Vol.  I.  pp.  34,  42. 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  45 

clergy,  to  restrict  this  ninety-seven  per  cent,  of  the 
people  to  but  thirty-three  per  cent,  of  the  influence, 
so  that  one  fortieth  of  France  should  outvote  the 
other  thirty-nine  fortieths.  This  deeply  irrita- 
ted the  Third  Estate.  This  irritation  was  fresh- 
ened by  the  mean  action  of  Louis  in  leaving  the 
Third  Estate  deputies  standing  out  in  the  rain, 
when  they  came  to  be  presented,  while  the  nobles 
and  clergy  were  quickly  admitted.  The  foolish 
king  had  taken  a  bad  time  to  show  contempt  for 
the  common  people. 

If  men  are  better  than  property  and  rank,  then 
this  thirty-nine  fortieths  of  the  French,  the 
Third  Estate,  should  have  had  eleven  hundred 
deputies  and  the  nobles  and  clergy  but  twenty- 
eight  ;  or  five  hundred  and  thirty-five  less  than 
they  had. 

About  one  half  of  the  Third  Estate  deputies 
were  lawyers ;  only  two  were  clergymen  ;  very 
few  were  philosophers  ;  eighty  were  magistrates 
or  mayors ;  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  were 
merchants  or  farmers. 

At  the  opening  the  king's  speech  did  not  pro- 
po.se  anything  tangible  ;  Louis  failed  to  take  the 
valuable  initiative.  Ncckcr's  speech  helped  noth- 
ing.    Necker  was  great  only  in  finance. 

Though  liberty  and  equality  was  the  cry,  yet 
it  was  equality  before  the  law,  equal  taxes,  equal 
chance  to  manifest  merit  and  receive  its  reward. 


46  TIIF.    WOKllVs    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

equal  justice,  equal  chance  of  employment,  no 
favoritism  — these  the  Third  Estate  desired.  They 
"  did  not  extend  their  wishes  beyond  moderate 
monarchy,"  says  Thiers.  "  If  the  king  had  spon- 
taneously established  some  equality  in  official  ap- 
pointments and  given  some  guarantees,  all  discon- 
tent would  have  been  appeased  for  a  long  time,"  * 
says  Guizot  the  Bourbonist. 

It  lowered  the  dignity  of  the  king  that  he  had 
no  plan  ready,  not  even  for  mode  of  procedure, 
no  ideas  to  guide  theirs,  in  deciding  or  in  voting. 
Should  they  sit  as  one  body  or  two,  or  three  ? 

If  as  one  body,  then  the  Third  Estate,  being  a 
slight  majority,  could  outvote  the  other  orders. 
If  as  two,  then  each  would  be  a  check  <9n.  the 
other. 

For  seventeen  days  Louis  weakly  let  the  three 
orders  quarrel  about  what  he  might  have  settled 
in  advance.  This  increased  the  already  great  bit- 
terness ;  more  and  more  did  it  convince  the  French 
that  Louis  was  incapable  to  rule  fairly. 

"  If  the  king  had  tact  enough  to  place  himself 
at  our  head  instead  of  betraying  wishes  at  variance 
with  ours  !  "  exclaimed  the  orator  Mirabeau. 

The  Commons  invited  the  other  orders  to  join 
them.  Some  of  the  clergy  did  join.  The  old 
nobility  was  unwilling  to  mix  with  the  clergy, 
because  it  contained  curates  of  plebeian  birth. 
The    clergy  and   nobles    debated  separately  with 

•  Guizot,  Vol.  v.  p.  385. 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  47 

tumult.     Financial  business  was  pressing.     Some- 
thing must  be  done. 

For  forty-three  days  the  Third  Estate  waited  ; 
on  the  forty-fourth  it  took  decided  action  ;  it 
assumed  the  name  of  the  "National  Assembly" 
and  was  at  once  a  power  higher  than  the  king, 
nobles  and  clergy. 

Three  days  later  the  king  arbitrarily  assumed  to 
adjourn  the  Third  Estate  for  two  days.  The 
members  coming,  found  their  hall  closed  and  sur- 
rounded by  soldiers.  They  were  alarmed  ;  in- 
censed. If  the  king  could  adjourn  them  for  two 
days,  it  followed  that  he  might  adjourn  them 
indefinitely. 

With  the  enthusiasm  of  patriotism  they  met  in 
a  tennis  court,  and  swore  to  never  separate  till  the 
Constitution  should  be  established. 

Louis  came  and  held  a  "  royal  sitting  "  June  23. 
Again  he  kept  the  Third  Estate  deputies  a  long 
time  out  in  the  rain,  after  nobles  and  clergy  had 
been  admitted.  Soldiers  were  at  hand  to  overawe 
them. 

He  arbitrarily  annulled  the  votes  already  an- 
nounced :  he  upheld  as  property  inviolate,  the 
servile  "  feudal  rights "  which  oppressed  France. 
He  ordered  that  the  distinctions  as  three  orders 
be  maintained  ;  agreeing  only  that  they  might 
vote  together  on  general  questions  ;  he  did  not 
order  joint  meetings  ;  he  demanded  obedience  by 
the  Third   I-^state ;  he  merely  presumed  it  of  the 


48         THE  world's  greatest  conflict. 

high  orders ;  he  vainly  boasted  that  he  would 
establish  F'rench  welfare  ;  he  declared  himself  the 
sole  representative  of  the  people.  It  was  two 
months  too  late  for  this  silly  talk. 

Louis  retired.  The  Assembly  was  firm.  A 
court  lackey  admonished  them  to  go  out.  Mira- 
beau  exclaimed  that  only  with  bayonets  could  they 
be  driven  from  their  hall.  The  king's  workmen 
came  to  take  away  the  benches ;  armed  soldiers 
crossed  the  hall  ;  the  king's  guard  came  to  the 
very  door. 

The  Assembly  voted  to  adhere.  "  The  king 
cannot  prevent  what  does  not  require  his  assent," 
said  Barnave.  Lest  the  king's  officers  should 
arrest  them  they  voted  deputies  inviolate,  and 
made  it  a  capital  crime  to  do  violence  to  one  of 
them. 

June  24  a  majority  of  the  clergy  joined  the 
Third  Estate  in  the  Assembly.  The  next  day 
forty-five  nobles,  headed  by  the  Duke  of  Orleans, 
came  in. 

June  27,  Louis  ordered  the  rest  to  join,  though 
he  had  so  recently  pronounced  against  it.  He  had 
made  issue  with  the  common  people  and  they 
had  beaten  him.  He  yielded  because  he  feared 
the  French  troops  would  take  the  popular  side 
against  him. 

P2ven  then,  had  Louis  promptly  and  freely  abol- 
ished extravagance,  favoritism  and  some  of  the 
most  oppresive  burdens,   made  equality  of  taxes 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  49 

and  public  employment,  and  protected  working 
people,  all  might  have  been  quieted. 

The  previous  year  (1788)  a  hail-storm  had  dam- 
aged the  crops;  now  in  1789  bread  riots  were 
fearful. 

Louis  assembled  his  foreign  troops.  This  ex- 
cited public  suspicion  and  animosity. 

July  1 1,  Louis  had  the  folly  to  dismiss  the  popu- 
lar Necker.  Rumors  flew  about  that  troops  would 
disperse  the  Assembly.  Paris  was  in  uproar.  The 
people  encouraged  the  Assembly.  The  guards 
were  e.xcited.  Three  hundred  of  them  deserted 
and  joined  the  crowd  at  the  Palais  Royal.  Eleven 
of  them  were  arrested.  The  crowd  broke  open 
the  prison  and  released  them.  The  king,  on  pe- 
tition of  the  Assembly,  pardoned  them. 

Louis  made  Foulon  Intcndant  of  Marine.  This 
was  the  man  who  had  said  that  hungry  people  might 
cat  grass. 

The  king's  folly  in  assembling  the  foreign  troops 
at  Versailles,  this  Foulon  appointment,  his  threat- 
ening attitude,  aroused  the  people ;  orators  mounted 
on  tables  in  the  streets,  harangued  the  crowds  ;  any 
citizen  became  an  orator ;  the  press  spoke  for  re- 
sistance ;  the  Palais  Royal  rang  with  the  cry,  "To 
arms  !  "  *     Louis  seemed  to  be  about  to  use  force. 

July  12.  Prince  Lambcso  brought  foreign  troops 
to  restrain  the  French  Guards.  It  resulted  in 
street  fights  with  the  foreign  soldiers.     Lambese 

•  The  Palais  Roy.il  was  Orleans'  headquarters. 


50  THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

ordered  cavalry  charges.  The  French  troops  re- 
fused to  act  against  the  people.  A  panic  ran 
through  Paris.     Everybody  was  excited. 

Men  rushed  to  enroll  and  quickly  formed  the 
Civic  (National)  Guard,  with  Lafayette  as  its  com- 
mander. The  red  and  blue  cockade  *  appeared 
everywhere.  Men  ransacked  Paris  for  arms.  They 
were  ready  to  resist  the  king's  favorites. 

By  July  13,  Louis,  now  thoroughly  frightened, 
went  to  the  opposite  extreme.  He  withdrew  his 
troops  to  the  Champ  de  Mars  and  Versailles, 
leaving  Paris  unprotected.  Then  crowds  rushed 
to  the  Invalides  and  seized  many  thousands  of 
muskets,  and  twenty  cannon. 

Electors  met  at  Hotel  de  Ville  and  organized  a 
committe  to  govern  Paris,  abandoned  by  the  king 
after  he  had  angered  it  to  revolt  and  riot.  This 
action  of  the  people  was  essential  for  self  protec- 
tion. Had  the  foolish  king  protected  Paris  and 
behaved  civilly  the  revolt  had  not  occurred. 

By  the  fourteenth  the  excitement  had  become 
frenzy.  The  guns  of  the  Bastille  overlooked  St. 
Antoine.  "Down  with  the  Bastille!"  rang 
throuG:h  all  Paris.  A  crowd  assembled  around  it. 
Somebody  fired  at  it.  The  soldiers  within  re- 
turned the  fire.  The  people  stormed  and  took  it. 
They  carried  the  head  of  its  commander,  de 
Launay,  on  a  pike.  They  went  into  a  grand  ex- 
citement over  their  first  victory, 

•  The  white  was  added  some  days  later. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  $1 

The  foreign  troops  were  visited  at  Versailles, 
and  flattered*  by  the  queen.  News  of  this  act  of 
folly  still  further  annoyed  Paris. 

The  king's  two  brothers  ran  away  from  France, 
whose  money  they  had*  so  freely  abstracted  and 
spent. 

The  bringing  of  foreign  troops  to  Paris  proved 
thus  to  have  been  only  a  new  irritation,  for  Louis 
had  no  genius  to  use  them.  The  insurrection 
forced  him  to  send  them  away,  and  to  recall 
Necker.  King  Louis  had  now  destroyed  what 
little  prestige  remained  to  him. 


xin. 

THE    mob    captured    Louis's    new   minister, 
l-'oulon.     They    hanged    him   with    hay  in 
his  mouth,  and  then  paraded  his  head  on  a  pike. 
Good   sense  then    certainly  dictated 
to    Louis  to    resign.     He   had    been        King  and 
on  the  throne  fifteen  years,  and    he       commons, 
knew  his  whole  career  was  already  a 
miserable  failure.     lie  knew  he  could  not  reign. 

Louis  came  into  Paris.  Lafayette  linndcd  him 
the  new  Revolution's  cockade  —  the  white  had 
been  added  —  with  the  remark  that  it  "would  go 
around  the  world." 

•  Mirabeau 


52  THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

Royal  authority  was  gone.  I'rancc  vva.s  aflame. 
Peasants  rose  in  arms  ;  they  burned  chateaux  and 
title-deeds  and  killed  landlords.  "  Fire  for  the 
mansions,  peace  for  the  cottage  !  "   was  the  cry. 

Disorder  swept  over  the  country.  The  courts 
of  law  had  vanished.  For  security,  committees 
were  everywhere  formed. 

Town  gate  custom  houses  were  abolished. 

Famine  was  terrible,  but  farmers  were  afraid  to 
bring  wheat  to  market  lest  they  be  robbed.  Beg- 
gars were  in  countless  numbers.*  Everything 
was  in  disorder. 

One  hundred  and  eighty,  then  two  hundred  and 
forty,  and  later  three  hundred  representatives 
chosen  by  the  forty-eight  sections  formed  the 
Paris  government.  Each  section  had  its  separate 
assembly.  Forty-eight  assemblies,  all  against  bad 
foolish  Louis  ;  all  hating  the  bad  deeds  of  the 
queen  ;  but  all  still  royalists. 

The  National  Assembly  declared  the  "  Rights 
of  Man,"  original  equality  ;  liberty,  property,  se- 
curity, resistance  to  oppression  ;  the  nation  is 
sovereign,  every  power  emanates  from  it ;  freedom 
to  do  whatever  does  not  injure  another;  law  is 
general  will  ;  public  burdens  should  be  propor- 
tioned to  fortunes  ;  all  men  may  vote. 

At  the  one  memorable  sitting  of  August  4, 
1789,  it  abolished,  first,  serfdom  ;  second,  senioral 
jurisdictions  ;  third,  exclusive  game  rights  ;  fourth, 

•  Blanc  computes  them  at  two  million  in  1789. 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  53 

sale  of  office  ;  fifth,  special  privileges  of  cities  and 
provinces  ;  sixth,  pensions  undeserved. 

And  it  ordered  :  first,  equal  taxes  ;  second,  any 
citizen  may  hold  civil  or  military  office  ;  third, 
tithes  to  be  redeemed  ;  fourth,  abatement  of  pigeon 
and  rabbit  nuisances ;  fifth,  reform  of  wardenships  ; 
sixth,  redemption  of  senioral  rights. 

Everywhere  payment  of  tithes  was  refused  ;  the 
game  that  had  been  allowed  to  destroy  crops  of 
the  poor  was  slaughtered. 

The  French  were  uneducated  in  parliamentary 
practice.  They  did  not  understand  its  procedure. 
Motions  were  made  and  carried  and  afterwards  re- 
duced to  writing  by  committees  and  again  voted 
at  a  later  session.     The  House  was  boisterous. 

The  king  caviled  at  the  "  Rights  of  Man."  He 
ought  either  to  have  accepted  or  rejected  the  dec- 
laration instantly.  But  he  was  irritated  ;  he  hesi- 
tated. The  Assembly  voted  an  income  tax  of 
twenty-five  per  cent,  to  be  paid  within  three  years. 

Wise  men  advised  the  king  to  transfer  the  gov- 
ernment to  a  distance  from  inflamed  Paris.  The 
stupid,  worthless  king  actually  went  to  sleep  while 
a  grave  delegation  was  thus  advising  him  on  this 
extremely  imi)ortant  matter ;  he  suddenly  woke, 
said  "  No,"  and  left  the  room,  with  abrupt  ill-man- 
ners. He  demurred  to  the  sweeping  acts  of 
August  4 ;  he  neither  accepted  nor  refused  them. 
The  Assembly  made  a  Constitution. 

A  drunken  orgy  occurred  at  Versailles.     King 


54  iHi-  world's  greatest  conflict. 

and  queen  appeared,  the  new  people's  cockade  was 
slighted,  and  wild  remarks  made.  This  news  ex- 
asperated a  crowd  of  Paris  women  to  invade  Ver- 
sailles, October  5,  1789.  They  wanted  bread. 
Men  joined  the  mob.  A  raving,  hungry  crowd 
marched  from  Paris  to  Versailles.  They  rioted  in 
the  king's  palace  grounds  ;  they  took  possession  of 
the  Assembly  hall.  They  remained  all  night,  and 
required  the  king  and  his  family  to  go  with  them 
to  Paris.  They  wanted  him  to  approve  the  "  Rights 
of  Man  "  and  the  Constitution.     He  yielded. 

It  was  believed  that  the  Duke  of  Orleans  stimu- 
lated this  riot  in  the  hope  that  Louis  would  be 
set  aside,  and  that  he  as  a  professed  liberal  would 
gain  the  crown  himself.  He  used  much  money 
for  the  mob. 

The  mob  escorted  the  king,  queen  and  family  to 
the  Tuileries.  It  was  a  dismal  procession  — roy- 
alty and  starvation.  Lafayette  had  come  with  the 
National  Guard  to  protect  the  king.  His  Memoirs 
deny  the  oft-repeated  story,  that  heads  were  car- 
ried on  pikes  before  the  king's  carriage.  The 
Assembly,  too,  moved  to  Paris.  It  was  high  time 
for  Louis  to  abdicate. 

The  Assembly  divided  France  into  eighty-three 
departments.  They  ordered  the  sale  of  crown 
lands  and  clergy  property  to  redeem  four  hundred 
millions  of  assignats  which  they  issued  ;  they  de- 
creed citizenship  to  Jews  ;  forbade  monastic  vows  ; 
made  the  French  clergy  free  of  the  pope  ;  abol- 


THE    WORLDS   GREATEST   CONFLICT.  55 

ished  nobility,  and  established  new  courts  of  jus- 
tice with  elective  judges,  jury,  counsel  and  appeal. 
They  confiscated  convents  and  pensioned  the 
monks  and  nuns ;  they  conceded  liberty  of  wor- 
ship, though  the  clergy  opposed  it. 

Mirabeau  and  Lafayette  were  rivals  in  influenc- 

'  ing  the  king,  but  Louis  suspected  Mirabeau  and 

the   queen    distrusted    Lafayette,  and  the   king's 

self-esteem  and  wrong-headedness  spoiled  all  their 

advice.     Louis  paid  Mirabeau  in  cash  for  his  aid. 

Clubs,  formed  all  over  France,  received  direc- 
tion from  Paris  clubs. 

In  the  south  the  sale  of  church  property  caused 
disturbances.  In  the  east  an  insurrection  received 
bloody  suppression  at  Nancy  (August  31,  1791). 

Bishops  and  curates  were  to  be  elected  by  the 
people  as  in  the  primitive  church.  Benefices  had 
been  very  unequal.  This  was  to  be  corrected. 
Many  bishops  opposed  it.  Their  submission  to 
the  foreign  power  of  Rome  wounded  French  pride 
and  patriotism.  The  king  asked  the  pope's  con- 
sent to  the  changes.  The  pope  did  not  answer 
pnjmptly.     Then  he  referred  it  to  the  clergy.* 

The  Assembly  decreed  that  the  clergy  take  the 
oath  t  of  allegiance  to  France.  Some  of  the 
bishops  took  it,  others  objected  ;  they  would  be 
loyal  to  Rome  ;  only  partly  loyal  to  France. 


•  Thiers,  Vol.  I.  p.  136. 

t  "To  be  f.nlthful  to  the  nation,  the  law  and  the  king,  and  to  maintain  with 
all  their  power  the  constitution." 


56         THE  world's  greatest  conflict. 

Anarchy  was  begun.  The  bishops  talked  of 
becoming  martyrs.  But  I'^rancc  was  to  be  the 
martyr. 

The  king  took  the  oath  to  support  the  constitu- 
tion, July  14,  1790.  So  did  some  curates.  Those 
who  declined  were  paid  salary  and  allowed  to  offi- 
ciate in  private  places. 

Mirabeau,  President  of  the  wild  Jacobin  Club, 
became  speaker  of  the  National  Assembly  (Janu- 
ary 29,  1 791).  He  was  a  support  to  Louis.  He 
died  April  2,  1791. 

Later,  priests  who  refused  the  oath  and  were 
dismissed,  opened  private  chapels.  Paris  was  un- 
friendly to  them.  The  king  broke  his  oath  by 
keeping  non-juror  priests  as  his  private  chaplains. 

Princes  and  nobles  were  running  from  France. 
Emigration  became  the  fashion.  The  fugitives 
expected  the  foreign  powers  to  speedily  bring  them 
back.  Members  of  the  Assembly,  too,  ran  away. 
Two  hundred  deputies  asked  for  passports.  The 
public  demanded  a  law  against  emigration.  A 
law  was  made  to  dismiss  from  office  any  func- 
tionary who  should  not  reside  in  the  place  of  his 
functions.  It  required  the  king  to  remain  near 
the  Assembly.*  These  royal  and  noble  runaways 
arranged  for  a  great  foreign  army  to  invade 
France.  At  that  time  the  revolutionists  were  not 
republicans ;  they  all  were  royalists.  Mirabeau 
died  a  royalist. 

•  Thiers,  Vol.  I,  p.  139, 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  5/ 

It  was  believed  that  the  king  meditated  flight. 
The  law  of  April  i8,  1791,  decreed  that  the  flight 
of  the  king  should  be  equivalent  to  his  dethrone- 
ment *  He  tried  to  go  to  St.  Cloud  for  a  few 
days.  It  is  not  six  miles  from  the  Tuileries.  The 
people  would  not  let  him  go.  After  being  kept  in 
his  carriage  four  hours  he  re-entered  the  Tuileries, 
baffled,  dispirited,  apprehensive. 


XIV. 

THE  king  decided  to  escape.     But  he  lacked 
the  common   sense  to  do  it  safely.     The 
boy  who  reads  dime  novels  could  have  given  him 
points.     A  carriage  of  enormous  size 
was  loaded  with  luggage  ;   parties  of       The  Royai 
soldiers  were  placed  on  the  road,  sure        Runaway, 
to  attract  attention,  sure  to  indicate      junezi,  1791. 
which    way    the    runaway   had    gone. 
Then  foolish  king,  foolish  queen,  son  and  daugh- 
ter, a   governess,    and    the    king's    sister    slipped 
away  —  si.x  well-known  persons  secretly  escaping 
together  through    towns  and  villages,  on  a  great 
public  road !     Surely  persons  so  very  foolish  are 
unfit  for  even    the    most    commonplace    business. 
The  boy  prince  of  si.\  years  ought  to  have  known 
better.     The    lowest    peasant    would   have    better 
arranged  an  escape.     Contemplate  a  pair  of  such 

*  Alison,  Vol.  I.  p.  101.     Miguel,  Vul.  I.  pp.  124-35. 


58         THE  world's  greatest  conflict. 

precious  fools  ruling  over  a  great  and  grand  nation. 
Alas  !  for  heredity. 

This  childish  farce  continued  till  Drouet  stopped 
the  blockheads  at  Varennes.  Louis  had  an  escort  ; 
they  rallied  about  him,  but  as  they  were  drunk, 
they  had  no  more  wits  than  their  royal  master. 

Louis  had  not  even  the  small  heroism  to  mount 
and  dash  on  while  he  might.  A  French  corporal 
would  have  done  it.  A  private  soldier  would  have 
done  it  or  been  condemned  as  too  imbecile  for  a 
private.  A  few  hours  more  on  horseback  would 
have  taken  Louis  to  a  waiting  officer  who  would 
have  guarded  him  safely  beyond  the  Assembly's 
reach. 

Paris  was  confused  at  this  news.  Louis  had 
left  a  statement  of  his  reasons  for  deserting  —  loss 
of  powers,  and  reduction  of  his  annual  expenses  to 
thirty  million  francs  yearly  !  * 

Carried  back  to  Paris,  Louis,  the  deserter,  was 
received  in  silence. 

Desertion  to  the  enemy  is  a  very  high  military 
crime.  It  was  a  military  as  well  as  a  civil  offense, 
for  the  king  was  head  of  the  army. 

By  his  desertion  Louis  legally  abdicated  his 
position  according  to  the  law  of  April  i8,  1791. 
This  action  forced  the  Assembly  to  take  the 
vacated  executive  power.  P"ar  better  had  he 
formally   abdicated    long    before.      He    had    been 

•  Precisely  the  whole  sum  asked  by  the  Emperor  Napoleon  for  his  own 
allowance  in  1S04. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  59 

king  for  fifteen  long  years  when  the  Assembly 
met  in  1789.  Every  year  had  been  a  demonstra- 
tion of  his  inability,  had  warned  him  to  resign,  as 
Louis  Philippe  resigned  in  1848. 

His  desertion  added  energy  to  the  opposition. 
M.iret,  the  fury,  was  calling  for  eight  hundred 
gibbets  on  which  to  hang  lovers  of  order. 


XV. 


A  PETITION  to  depose  Louis  was  exhibited 
in  the  Champ  de  Mars.     The  city  commit- 
tees opposed  it.    Thousands  went  there  to  sign. 
Lafayette  and  the  Mayor  Bailly  pro- 
claimed  martial   law.      The  National  The 
Guards    tried     to  clear   the    ground.     Fatal  Affair  of 
The   crowd    resisted.      The    Guards      J"'>'  '7. 1791- 
fired  ;  twelve  persons  were  killed  and 
the    place   cleared.     This    fatal  interference  with 
the  sacred  right  of   jictition  was  never  forgiven. 
It  was  bitterly  remembered  by  the  wild  Jacobins 
against  the  Girondists  and  used  against  order  (and 
for  it  Bailly  was  later  executed  on  that  very  spot). 
Under  Lafayette's  vigorous  command  and  advice 
order  seemed  once  more  restored.     Of  the  savage 
mob    leaders,    Danton    was    absent  ;    Maret,    the 
frightful,  was  obliged  to  hide  himself  ;  Robespierre 
dared   not   show  himself.       The   Jacobins'  brutal 
power  was  for  a  short  time  shaken.     The  Moder- 


6o  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

atcs  had  seceded  from  the  Jacobins  and  formed 
a  new  club,  the  Feuillants.  These  two  clubs  were 
now  rivals  in  influencing  all  the  clubs  throughout 
France. 

The  license  of  clubs  was  boundless.  Disorder 
was  wild.  Had  Lafayette  alone  been  at  the  head 
of  government  all  might  have  been  adjusted.  But 
nobody  could  maintain  law  and  order  under  the 
marplot  Louis. 

The  Assembly  made  the  new  Constitution  of 
1 791.  The  French  runaways  in  Germany  tried  to 
dissuade  Louis  from  accepting  it.  They  spread 
through  Europe  their  letter  promising  him  for- 
eign assistance  ;  this  was  an  insult  to  France  that 
only  made  the  many  enemies  of  Louis  still  more 
bitter. 

The  German  emperor,  Leopold,  brother  of  Louis' 
wife,  and  the  King  of  Prussia,  met  and  decided  to 
prepare  to  aid  Louis  against  his  outraged  people. 
But  secretly  the  emperor  advised  Louis  to  accept 
the  Constitution.  Louis  accepted  it  September 
14,  1791. 

It  gave  Frenchmen  equality  in  the  laws  ;  and 
deputies  elected  by  the  people.  It  was  still 
monarchy  ;  Louis  was  its  head.  The  revolutionists 
were  still  monarchists.  Louis  was  allowed  thirty 
million  francs  a  year,  and  extensive  powers. 

Religious  strife,  disorder,  bloodshed  at  Avignon, 
the  pope's  friends  against  the  new  condition,  dis- 
turbed the  peace. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  6 1 

The  National  Assembly  ended  September  30, 
1 791.  It  had  established  liberty  of  worship,  trial 
by  jury ;  decreed  that  trials  be  public  and  de- 
fense allowed ;  it  had  abolished  torture  ;  arbitrary 
arrests  without  cause ;  exemption  of  the  nobles 
and  clergy  (two  thirds  of  France)  from  taxation  ; 
relieved  the  excessive  taxes  and  feudal  claims  ; 
and  had  opened  to  every  person  a  fair  chance 
for  employment ;  equal  taxes,  equal  rights  ;  com- 
mon suffrage  had  removed  a  great  number  of 
abuses. 

Had  Louis  been  an  honest,  capable  executive, 
all  might  still  have  been  well.  "His  indecision, 
weakness,  and  half-measures  ruined  everything,"  * 
says  that  lover  of  arbitrary  monarchy,  Alison. 

The  newly-elected  Legislative  Assembly  came 
in  October  i,  1791.  The  National  Assembly  had 
made  its  own  members  ineligible,  so  the  new 
Chamber  was  of  new  men.  Many  were  fanatics. 
It  divided  into  two  parties,  the  Right  for  consti- 
tutional monarchy,  the  Left  for  further  revolution. 
Of  its  seven  hundred  and  forty-five  members  above 
four  hundred  were  lawyers  ;  many  were  journa- 
lists;  all  were  eager  to  make  reputation,  to  gain 
popularity,  to  rule.  Many  were  ignorant,  all  were 
presumptuous. 

Many  nobles  were  still  emigrating.  More  than 
seventy  thousand  had  gone.     One  thousand  nine 

•  Alison,  Vol,  I.  p.  ■(. 


62  THE    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

liundrcd  officers,  all  nobles,  had  deserted.*  The 
military  preparations  of  the  deserters  on  the 
Rhine,  their  violent  language  and  intrigues,  exas- 
perated the  French  people. 

The  new  Assembly  decreed  the  return  of  the 
king's  brother,  Stanislaus  Xavier  (afterwards  Louis 
the  Eighteenth)  ;  it  announced  that  emigrants  were 
to  be  regarded  as  conspirators,  would  forfeit  reve- 
nue and  be  punished  unless  they  returned  by  Jan- 
uary I,  1792. 

Louis  signed  the  decree  for  his  brother's  return, 
but  he  vetoed  that  concerning  the  emigrants. 
This  veto  was  exceedingly  offensive  to  the  Assem- 
bly and  the  public.  The  people  gave  the  epithet 
"  Madame  Veto  "  to  their  despised  queen.  They 
believed,  with  justice,  that  she  intrigued  with  her 
Austrian  family  against  the  French.  At  that 
moment  emigrants  were  organizing  a  foreign  army 
against  the  French  ;  they  were  arranging  to  bring 
the  enemy  to  Paris. 

In  Vendee  non-juror  priests  were  accused,  "not 
without  reason,"  f  of  exciting  people  against  the 
Constitution.  As  they  refused  to  swear  "fidelity 
to  nation,  law,  king  and  Constitution,"  the  Assem- 
bly suspended  their  salaries,  decreed  their  removal 
from  one  place  to  another,  if  they  incited  civil 
war,  and  forbade  their  illicit  worship.  They 
might  remove  this  disability  by  taking  the  oath, 

*  Republican  W.ir  Minister,  Thiers,  Vol.  I.  p.  168. 
t  Guizot's  History  of  France,  Vol.  I.  p.  69. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  63 

by  adhering  to  France  instead  of  to  the  Pope. 
Thus  the  Assembly  in  the  name  of  liberty  were 
opposing  liberty  of  conscience.  Louis  vetoed  this 
decree.  He  was  himself  still  breaking  the  law 
and  his  oath  by  keeping  non-juror  priests  in  his 
household. 

Jacobin  Clubs  all  over  France  supported  the 
fiery  Paris  Clubs,  that  constrained  the  Assembly 
to  pass  violent  decrees. 

The  Left  accused  Louis  of  being  in  league 
with  the  foreign  enemy.  The  ministers  resigned. 
The  king  took  Jacobins  into  the  ministry.* 

The  Girondists  in  the  Assembly  united  with 
the  Revolutionists. 

The  German  emperor  demanded  f  "  redress  " 
for  German  jirinces  for  losses  in  Alsace  ;  he  de- 
manded Avignon  for  the  Pope  ;  restitution  of  the 
immense  Church  estates  in  Alsace;  restitution 
of  arbitrary  authority  to  the  king  with  certain 
concessions. J 

Charged  with  treason,  his  queen  hated  and 
believed  to  be  still  Austrian — the  people  believ- 
ing that  she  was  leading  him  to  betray  France  — 
the  king  was  constrained  to  iiropose  war.  The 
Assembly  accepted  the  proposal  and  voted  war, 
April  20,  1792. 

The  Assembly  decreed  the  exile  of  the  refrac- 


•  N.irbonnc,  Diimnuriei,  Roland, 
t  H.irflinbiirK,  Vol.  I.  pp.  391,  39J. 
t  Alison,  Vol.  I.  pp.   itrf-tyj. 


64  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

tory  priests.  Louis  refused  to  sanction  this  order 
of  e.xile.  At  Avignon  Protestants  and  Catliolics 
had  assassinated  each  other. 

The  Assembly  decreed  a  camp  of  twenty  thou- 
sand troops  ("federates  ")  near  Paris. 

Louis  dismissed  his  Jacobin  ministers.  He  had 
the  folly  also  to  turn  away  from  his  friends  of  the 
Right,  the  Girondists.  He  was  imbecile.  For 
ten  days  he  hardly  spoke.*  He  sat  and  sulked. 
His  neglected  Girondists  resented  his  desertion 
of  them.  He  had  a  sudden  awakening  in  his 
stupidity.  Instigated  by  the  Girondists  a  great, 
tumultuous  crowd  came  July  20,  1792,  to  the 
Assembly  with  petitions.  Singing  Ca  Ira,  they 
went  also  to  the  Tuileries  with  petitions  to  the 
king,  asking  him  to  sanction  the  recalcitrant 
priest  and  emigrant  decrees  that  he  had  vetoed, 
and  recall  the  "patriot"  ministers.  Louis  took 
from  a  pike  a  red  Revolution  cap  and  put  it  on 
his  head.  He  did  not  grant  the  petitions,  though 
the  crowd  filled  his  palace  for  hours. 

Louis  the  Fourteenth  and  Louis  the  Fifteenth 
had  by  their  bad  conduct  caused  the  P>ench  to 
hate  kings.  Louis  the  Si.xteenth,  during  the 
eighteen  long  years  that  he  had  been  king,  from 
1774,  had  done  nothing  to  dispel,  and  very  much 
to  immensely  and  justly  increase  that  hatred. 
He  was  incapable,  assuming,  irresolute  ;  that  he 
was  less  dissolute    than    these   two   predecessors 

•  Alison,  Vol.  I.  122.     Thiers;  Mad.  Campan. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  6$ 

is  because  nature  vetoed  it,  not  because  of  his 
own  goodness.  Morally,  he  was  not  good.  This 
mob  visit  to  the  king,  and  his  lack  of  tact  and 
common  foresight  to  have  precluded  its  possibil- 
ity, excited  more  strongly  all  France  against  a  king 
whose  lack  of  common  sense  excited  contempt. 
When  he  plainly  saw  that  he  was  incapable,  and 
confessed  it  by  desertion,  in  1791,  why  did  not 
he  let  "  Monsieur  "  his  elder  brother,  who  had 
ability,  and  who  had  no  Austrian  wife,  become 
regent  ?     This  neglect  was  a  fatal  error. 

Lafayette  prepared  the  way  for  Louis  to  escape, 
but  the  queen  by  whim  opposed  it  because  she 
disliked  Lafayette,  and  Louis  was  cool  to  this  man 
who  would  save  him. 

Lafayette  appealed  to  the  Assembly  for  reign 
of  law  instead  of  reign  of  clubs.  But  the  Giron- 
dists, who  had  once  defended  order  and  justice, 
were  provoked  by  the  king  and  queen,  and  had 
joined  the  violent  Commune.  Even  Lafayette 
was  accused  by  them.  He  tried  to  get  the  mob 
leaders  punished,  but  failed. 

All  parties  had  been  Royalists.  But  now  arose 
popular  demand  for  the  dethronement  of  so  worth- 
less a  king.  Should  these  two  semi-imbeciles  head 
the  dcfen.se  of  France  against  foreign  armies 
whom  both  king  and  queen  desired  ?  Should 
France  have  an  Austrian  queen,  who  now  had 
great  influence  over  the  king,  when  F" ranee  would 
be   at  war  with   Austria .!*     This    Austrian    queen 


66        THE  world's  greatest  conflict. 

was  in  correspondence  with  the  enemy  !  Every 
body  said  this  ;  and  it  was  true. 

Then  came  a  proclamation  from  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick,  who  commanded  the  foreign  invaders. 
Its  language  was  extremely  cruel,  rash,  ill-judged, 
offensive  —  admirably  calculated  to  exasperate  the 
French  people.  It  threatened  the  direst  venge- 
ance—  death,  the  destruction  of  Paris.  It  alone 
was  sufficient  to  arouse  any  people  to  the  ardor  of 
defense  against  one  capable  of  threats  so  atro- 
cious. Dated  at  Coblentz,  July  25,  it  appeared  at 
Paris  on  the  28th.  How  came  it  so  quickly  ? 
It  was  well  known  that  many  friends  of  the  invad- 
ing army  were  in  Paris. 

August  3  Petion,  Mayor  of  Paris,  accused  Louis 
to  the  Assembly  as  aiding  the  invasion,  "  His 
name  is  the  signal  of  discord.  .  .  .  We  appeal 
to  it  (the  Constitution)  in  our  turn,  and  ask  his  de- 
thronement." The  Paris  Sections  supported  the 
accusation.  There  was  much  reason  to  believe  it 
true. 

The  Girondists,  who  had  been  his  friends  until 
he  repulsed  them,  now  implored  Louis  to  "  Let 
the  sight  of  the  men  who  surround  you  invite 
public  confidence." 

The  Assembly  proclaimed  "the  country  in 
danorer."  These  words  stirred  all  France.  Local 
authorities  enrolled  volunteers.  Not  daring  to  trust 
Louis,  who  was  not  trusty,  and  whom  they  feared 
as  a  traitor,  they  kept  control  of  these  troops. 


THE   world's    greatest   CONFLICT.  6/ 

Then  came  the  famous  Marseilles  battalion. 
The  Girondists,  moderate,  able,  patriotic,  lost  con- 
trol of  the  revolt.  Maret,  hideous,  repulsive, 
depraved  by  an  insane  thirst  for  blood,  lived  and 
sneaked  and  schemed  apart,  a  horror  even  to 
those  who  used  him,  yet  an  exciter  to  violence 
strongly  felt. 


XVI. 

AGAIN    the    people    assembled   around   the 
Tuilcries.     The    king,    as    usual,    did    not 
know  what  to  do.     Somebody  told    him    to  take 
refuge  in  the  Assembly  which  he  had 
so   often   insulted.     With  the  hated      The  Reign  of 
queen  and  his  family  he  did  so.     But     Terror  begins 
his  Swiss  guard,  far  braver  than  their       August  lo, 
puerile  master,  he  left   to  their  fate.  1792- 

They  defended   his  palace  till   many 
of  them  were  slain.     In  the  midst  of  their  defense 
he  sent  orders  to  these  brave  Swiss  to  cease  firing, 
but  he  did  not  withdraw  them  ;  they  obeyed,  and, 
defenseless,  were  massacred. 

So  contemptible  had  the  king  become  that,  in 
his  presence,  the  Assembly  decreed  the  suspen- 
sion of  his  jiowers,  and  ordered  that  a  national 
convention  be  called.*     They  were  still  Royalists  ; 

•  Thiers,  Vol.  I.  p.  i?*^- 


68         THE  world's  greatest  conflict. 

they  ordered  the  education  of  the  boy  prince-royal. 
But  they  sent  him  and  his  family  to  the  temple. 
The  prisons  were  crowded  with  nobility  and  clergy. 
After  August  lo,  of  seven  hundred  and  forty-nine 
deputies,  but  two  hundred  and  eighty-four  were 
present,  all  of  them  Jacobins.*  The  majority  were 
absent.  Lafayette  resigned  the  command  of  an 
army  at  Sedan  and  left  France.  He  was  then 
imprisoned  by  Austria. 

Danton  the  furious,  president  of  the  Cordeliers 
Club,  a  rival  of  the  Jacobin  Clubs,  was  made 
Minister  of  Justice.     What  a  misnomer  ! 

The  "  Reign  of  Terror  "  began  at  once,  August 
ID,  1792.  It  lasted  till  October  26,  1795 — thirty- 
eight  and  one  half  months.  The  Commune  had 
come  into  power.  The  Commune!  —  a  minority 
frenzied  ;  a  political  insanity  ;  a  bloody  panic  of 
partisanship  ;  a  small  fraction  only  of  the  French 
people,  but  maddened  to  delirium  by  the  wrongs 
France  had  long  endured  from  king,  high  clergy 
and  nobles  ;  a  fanatical  following,  exasperated  by 
the  later  conduct  of  Louis  and  his  queen,  his 
brother  d'Artois,  and  by  the  impending  advent 
of  a  powerful  foreign  and  domestic  army  whose 
commander  had  threatened  devastation  and  whose 
avowed  purpose  was  to  restore  despotism  just  when 
the  people  believed  France  to  be  emerging  from 
it ;  this  minority  made  the  terrible  Reign  of  Terror 
that   dishonors   all    humanity.     Yet  even  its  ex- 

•  Von  Sybel,  Vol.  I.  p.  315. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  69 

cesses  were  no  worse  than  the  anarchy  threatened 
by  the  Duke  of  Brunswick's  proclamation. 

Longwy  fortress  was  taken  by  the  invaders, 
August  13.  A  great  army  of  Austrians,  Prussians, 
Hessians  and  emigrant  French  deserters  were 
advancing  on  Paris. 

August  17.  On  Brissot's  *  motion  a  Revolu- 
tionary tribunal  was  formed  for  summary  trials, 
elected  by  the  Sections.!  A  decree  ordered  non- 
juror priests  to  leave  France  within  fifteen  days, 
or  be  banished  to  Guiana.  It  was  charged  that 
they  aided  the  common  enemy  by  exciting  their 
people.  Those  who  did  not  go  were  arrested. 
Danton  and  the  Commune  changed  their  sentence 
to  death.  The  Prussians  attacked  Verdun.  With- 
out and  within  Paris  terror  reigned. 

The  fiery  Danton  demanded  a  law  to  search 
houses ;  to  arrest  those  suspected  of  aiding  the 
approaching  enemy.  The  excitement  of  danger 
was  terrible.  The  fragmentary  Assembly,  partly 
Jacobin,  while  the  rest  were  overawed,  voted  it. 

August  29,  30  and  31.  Shops  were  closed; 
every  one,  shut  up  in  his  house,  waited  the  terri- 
ble visit  of  the  Commune.  Great  numbers  were 
sent  to  crowd  the  prisons  —  men,  women  and 
children. 

September  2,  3.  Alarm  bells  were  rung,  black 
flags    were    raised.      Conspiracy    was     rumored. 

•A  Girondist. 

f  Eight  judges  .iiid  eight  jurymen.     P.iri»  was  in  forty-eight  "  Sections." 


70  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 


Panic  ensued.  Paris  was  insane.  The  Assembly 
decreed  death  to  all  who  should  disobey  the  city 
powers.  This  was  to  prevent  resistance ;  it  was 
murder  made  easy.  The  Commune  was  in  power  ; 
too  powerful  for  control  by  the  Assembly.  Paid 
assassins  opened  prisons  and  massacred  several 
thousand  prisoners. 

Says  Alison,  "  The  small  number  who  perpe- 
trated these  murders  ...  is  one  of  the  most 
instructive  facts  .  .  .  the  number  of  those 
actually  engaged  in  the  massacre  did  not  exceed 
three  hundred,  and  twice  as  many  more  witnessed 
their  proceedings,  yet  this  handful  of  men  gov- 
erned Paris  and  France  with  a  despotism."  * 

The  bloody  Marat  sent  couriers  with  a  call  to 
all  France  to  follow  this  atrocious  example.  At 
Rheims,  Caen  and  Lyons  magistrates  and  priests 
were  slain.  Prisoners  sent  from  the  south  were 
murdered  at  Versailles. 

France  was  held  by  Terror.  It  was  neither 
monarchy,  republic,  nor  democracy,  but  only  Ter- 
ror—  the  many  suppressed  by  a  small  minority. 

"There  were  not  more  than  five  men  in  P" ranee 
who  wished  for  a  republic,"  said  Petion,  then 
Mayor  of  Paris. 

Then  Paris  and  France  were  stirred  to  wild  en- 
thusiasm by  Kellcrman's  decisive  victory  at  Valmy, 
over  the  invaders,  September  20,  1792.  The  Rev- 
olution's   soldiers    had    beaten    the    trained    and 

•History  of  Europe,  Vol.  I.  p.  140. 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  /I 

highly  disciplined   Prussians ;   they  had   expelled 
the  emigrants  v 
the  Revolution. 


the  emigrants  who  were  returning  in  arms  against 


XVII. 

THE    Legislative  Assembly  was  dissolved  and 
the    National   Convention   convened   Sep- 
tember 21,  1792. 

Two  parties  existed — the   Giron-  The 

dists,  who  desired  law  and  order,  and      convention, 
the  Jacobins,  wild,  headstrong  furies, 
many  of  them  anarchists,  neither  republicans  nor 
monarchists. 

The  contest  between  the  two  parties  for  do- 
minion was  fierce  and  terrible.  Robespierre, 
Danton  and  Marat  were  Jacobin  members  of  the 
Convention. 

The  first  day,  on  motion  of  a  priest,  the  Conven- 
tion voted  abolition  of  royalty.  That  day  it  began 
a  new  calendar.  All  citizens  were  voted  equal 
political  rights. 

Yet  this  was  not  a  republic.  A  real  republic  is 
constitutional  rule  of  the  majority  through  regular 
forms  of  law,  and  only  by  law.  The  moment  it 
ceases  to  be  this  it  has  ceased  to  be  a  republic. 
France  before  1848  was  never  this  ;  so  it  was  not 
a  republic.  The  Reign  of  Terror  was  diametrically 
opposed    to    a    republic,   because    it  was  a    small 


72  THE   WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT, 

minority  that  ruled,  and  not  by  law,  but  by 
Terror. 

The  Jacobins  denounced  the  Girondists  as  fed- 
eralists, as  desiring  to  form  France  into  twenty- 
three  states  held  together  by  a  federal  union. 
This  inflamed  Paris  against  them,  for  Paris 
wished  to  be  the  seat  of  central  ruling  power. 

The  Convention  ordered  perpetual  banishment 
to  the  traitor  emigrants  and  death  to  those  who 
should  return.  They  had  invaded  France  and 
made  war  on  it  ;  for  this  they  must  perish. 

French  troops  took  Savoy,  and  the  Convention 
annexed  it  to  France.  Custine  took  Mentz. 
Damourier  defeated  the  Austrians  at  Jemappes, 
November  6,  and  soon  made  conquest  of  Belgium 
from  Austria. 


XVIII. 

THE   Convention  decreed  the  trial  of  Louis. 
He  was  well-treated  in  prison,  as  Clery  his 
friend   has  testified.*     When   Manuel    frequently 
asked    him    if    he    needed   anything, 
The  death  of      Louis    always   replied,    "  I    have    no 
Louis.  need." 

Sixteen  persons  were  employed  to 
prepare  his  well-furnished  table. 

Louis  was  defended  by  able  counsel,  Malesher- 

•  Thiers,  Vol.  I.  p.  340.     Clery's  statements. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  73 

bes,  Tronchet  and  De  Seze.  Some  of  the  Giron- 
dists moved  to  refer  the  verdict  to  a  vote  of  the 
people.  Robespierre  repelled  this  course  as  likely 
to  cause  civil  war. 

January  15,  1793.  Of  720  members  present 
683  voted  "guilty";  not  one  "  not  guilty";  37 
refused  to  vote.  Then  281  voted  appeal  to  the 
people  ;  423  against  it.* 

Later,  exactly  a  majority— 361  out  of  721  — 
voted  for  death  unconditionally  ;  72  were  for  death 
after  delay  ;  286  for  detention  or  banishment. 

January  20,  prompt  execution  was  voted  —  380 
against  310.  On  January  21,  1793,  the  "Son  of 
St.  Louis"  was  beheaded. 

He  had  reigned  above  eighteen  years.  His 
wicked  predecessor,  Louis  the  Fifteenth,  be- 
queathed him  France  in  bad  condition.  But  in 
these  eighteen  years  a  wise,  able,  honest  man  could 
have  remedied  the  former  evils  and  rendered 
France  contented,  happy  and  free  from  unequal  and 
severe  burdens.  By  "weakness,  vacillation,  irreso- 
lution," by  ill  temper,  inconstancy,  stupidity  and  pre- 
sumptuous folly  Louis  the  Sixteenth  provoked  the 
Revolution.  "All  the  measures  of  Louis,"  says 
Alison,  "conspired  to  bring  it  about. f  Had  Louis 
the  Sixteenth  resisted  manfully,  bad  lie  used  the 
courage,  the  activity,  the  resolution  of  Charles  the 
First  of  England,  he  would  have  triumphed."  But 
it  was  not  in  Louis'  nature  to  act  manfully. 

•Thiers,  Vol.  I.  p.  417.  t  Alison,  H.  Rev.,  Vol.  I.  p.  in. 


74  THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

The  very  grave  charge  that  Louis  had  betrayed 
France  by  inviting  the  invading  armies  of  Europe 
was  too  true.  In  December,  1790,  he  appealed 
to  the  German  emperor,  and  to  the  sovereigns  of 
Russia,  Sweden,  Spain  and  Prussia,  and  "sug- 
gested the  plan  of  a  congress  of  the  principal  pow- 
ers, supported  by  an  armed  force,  as  the  means  of 
arresting  the  factions  here  and  establishing  a  more 
desirable  order  of  things."  *  These  are  Louis's 
own  words  to  the  Prussian  king.  Therefore  all 
the  French  blood  shed  at  Valmy  was  done  by  his 
treason.  Louis  and  his  queen  sent  secret  emissa- 
ries to  the  Prussian  and  Austrian  rulers,!  and  to 
England.  Yet  on  the  twentieth  of  April,  1792, 
Louis  declared  war  on  Austria  for  acts  which  he 
had  himself  instigated. 


XIX. 

AUSTRIA    and    Prussia    agreed   at    Pilnitz, 
August  27,  1 79 1,  to  prepare  armies  to  assail 
the  French.     Several  armies  were  to  form  on  the 
frontiers. 
The  Allies.  Belgium  had  revolted  against  Aus- 

tria in  1789  and  been  suppressed  by 
force.  France  saw  the  necessity  for  defensive 
action.     In  April,  1792,  it  sent  an  army  to  enter 

*  Louis  to  Frederick  William  the  Second,  Hardenburg,  Vol.  I.  pp.  94,  95' 
tAhson,  Vol.  1.  p.  173. 


THE    world's    greatest   CONFLICT.  7$ 

Belgium.  It  failed  ;  the  French  soldiers  were  not 
ready  to  fight. 

The  allied  armies,  Austrian,  Prussian,  German 
and  French  emigrant,  under  the  Duke  of  Bruns- 
wick, brother-in-law  of  George  the  Third  of  Eng- 
land, had  invaded  France  July  30,  1792.  Sig- 
nally defeated  at  Valmy,  September  20,  they 
retreated  from  France.  The  French,  following 
up  this  victory,  won  the  battle  of  Jemmapes, 
November  6,  and  soon  rescued  Belgium  from 
Austria  and  the  German  emperor  who  had  begun 
the  war. 

The  French,  received  with  enthusiasm,  opened 
the  fine  river  Scheldt  to  commerce,  to  the  great 
joy  of  Antwerp.  This  river  had  been  closed 
for  years  because  Antwerp  was  a  commercial 
rival  of  the  Dutch  towns.  The  French  seques- 
tered the  public  and  church  property  and  made 
requisitions  to  support  the  French  liberating  army. 
Its  demands  were  severe.  Belgium  nobles  and 
clergy  opposed  the  French.  France  annexed  some 
small  districts  taken  from  Germany  The  people 
of  Savoy  formed  a  great  club  to  spread  liberty 
and  equality  ;  they  successfully  revolted  against 
the  king  of  Sardinia,  abolished  royalty,  tithes 
and  exclusive  privileges,  and  asked  France  to 
annex  Savoy.  France  complied.  It  also  annexed 
Nice  and  Monaco.  War  resulted  between  the 
French  and  the  King  of  Sardinia. 

Geneva  wished    to    be    free   from    dictation    of 


'j(d  THE   world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

Berne.  France  aided  it ;  she  reversed  the  op- 
pression put  on  Geneva  by  Louis  in  1782. 

November  19,  1792,  the  French  Convention 
decreed  "  Fraternity  and  assistance  to  all  people 
who  wish  to  recover  their  liberty."  * 

December  15,  1792,  it  decreed  that  in  all  coun- 
tries occupied  by  French  armies,  imposts,  tithes, 
feudal  rio;ht,  personal  servitude  shall  cease  ;  that 
royal,  public  and  church  property  shall  be  placed 
under  French  safeguard  ;  that  the  people's  sover- 
eignty and  liberty  should  be  established. 

Five  London  societies  sent  friendly  addresses  to 
the  French  Convention. 


XX. 


I  HAVE    carefully    enumerated    these    events 
because    these,    and    the    Tuileries    mob   of 
August    10,    1792,   the   September   massacre,   the 
suspension  of  the  king,  his  execution. 
The  and  the  fact  of  the  French  Revolu- 

greatwar        tion  itsclf,  the  inflammatory  language 
begins.         of  the  Frcnch  and  their  belief   that 
they  were  missionaries  of  revolution, 
are  the  causes   why  Great   Britain,   in   February, 
1793,  entered  on  that  long  and  terrible  war  that, 


*  "  This  imprudent  decree,  passed  in  a  moment  of  enthusiasm,  was  not  con- 
strued, as  Pitt  asserted,  into  an  invitation  to  all  nations  to  rebel."  —  Thiers, 
Vol.  I.  p.  433. 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  7/ 

with  two  intermissions,  was  not  to  terminate  till 
more  than  twenty-two  years  later. 

England  prepared  to  declare  war,  unless  the 
French  would  "  withdraw  their  arms  within 
French  territory  ;  abandon  their  conquests,"  and 
make  pledges  not  to  foment  troubles.* 

Yet  at  this  time,  when  England  wanted  France 
to  abandon  its  conquests,  England  had  itself  re- 
cently been  augmented  in  India,  and  Russia, 
Austria  and  Prussia  had  divided  Poland.  To 
preserve  the  old  "  balance  of  power "  France 
needed  additions. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  and  other  British  writers  have 
pronounced  these  causes  as  insufficient  to  justify 
England  in  going  to  war.  English  militia  were 
called  out.  After  angry  discussion  with  the 
French  ambassador  Pitt's  ministry  ordered  him 
to  leave  England  within  eight  days.  Vessels 
laden  with  grain  for  P" ranee  were  stopped,  "  prepa- 
rations and   proclamations  announced  impending 

» » J. 
war.    J 

The  Convention  declared  war  on  England, 
Holland  and  Spain  February  3,  1793. 

Ten  days  after  the  king's  death,  the  rulers  of 
Britain,  Spain,  Molland  and  Russia  began  war  on 
the  French.  Prussia,  Austria,  Hesse  and  Sardinia 
were  already  at  war  with  France. 

•  Lord  GrcnviUe's  dispatch.  t  Thiers,  Vol.  I.  p.  433. 


78         THE  world's  greatest  conflict. 


XXI. 

THE  death  of  Louis  in  1793  brought  the  Jaco- 
bins to  the  summit  of  power.     The  Giron- 
dists    had     invented     the     dread    Revolutionary 
tribunal,    the    Jacobins    revised    and 

The  Jacobin  ... 

rendered  it  far  more  terrible. 

tyranny. 

Two  committees — that  of  Public 
Safety  and  that  of  General  Safety,  were  formed  ; 
Robespierre,  Danton,  and  Murat,  the  bloody  trio, 
ruled  by  violence.  Hot-headed  Jacobins  were 
sent  to  watch  the  armies  and  the  generals,  and 
to  domineer  tyrannically  over  provinces. 

The  Girondists  opposed  the  Terror  ;  they  ac- 
cused Marat  and  had  him  arrested,  but  his  accom- 
plices on  the  bloody  Terror  tribunal  acquitted 
him.  Strife  between  Jacobins  and  Girondists  be- 
came very  fierce,  very  deadly.  The  Girondists 
were  accused  of  being  Federalists,  which  meant 
that  they  favored  local  against  central  govern- 
ment, more  power  in  provinces,  less  power  in 
Paris.  The  violence  depressed  trade  and  work 
and  brought  severe  want.  Assignats  had  fallen 
two  thirds  in  value,  prices  were  high.  The  Con- 
vention ordered  low  prices ;  scarcity  continued, 
famine  came.  Amid  bread  riots,  and  food  rob- 
beries, and  lack  of  money,  the  Convention  made 
forced  loans.  Civil  war,  both  religious  and  politi- 
cal, raged  in  Catholic  Vendee  and  Brittany.     The 


THE   world's    greatest   CONFLICT.  79 

insurgents  defeated  the  National  Army  in  battle 
at  Fontenay,  May  24.  The  French  under  Dumou- 
riez  and  Louis  Phillipe  lost  the  battle  of  Neer- 
winden,  March  18,  and  with  it  Belgium.  Austria 
recovered  it.  Foreign  and  civil  war  at  once  and 
both  disastrous  !  France  called  out  three  hundred 
thousand  men.*  Dumouriez  determined  to  end 
the  tyranny  of  the  Convention,  and  establish  the 
Constitution  of  1791  ;  he  made  armistice  with  the 
Austrians,  and  surrendered  to  them  the  deputies 
sent  to  remove  him.  But  his  army  refused  to 
obey  him.  Then  he  escaped  with  Louis  Philippe 
(afterwards  king)  to  the  Austrians. f  Serious  but 
indecisive  fighting  occurred  on  the  Belgic  and 
Spanish  frontiers. 

The  Paris  mob  now  threatened  the  Jacobins  ; 
they  wanted  food.  The  Convention  decreed  judges 
and  jury  for  Danton's  extra  tribunal  of  summary 
trial  without  appeal  ;  levied  a  large  ta.x  on  the  rich 
to  support  the  war ;  sent  two  deputies  to  control 
each  of  the  eighty-four  departments. 

A  riot,  organized  by  Hebert,  Marat,  Danton  and 
Robespierre  began  May  31.  Twenty-two  Giron- 
dist deputies  had  been  denounced.  The  Paris 
Commune  hated  them,  and  they  were  expelled. 
All  parties  were  terribly  embittered  ;  the  Girondists 
had  to  fly  for  their  lives  to  Caen.  Robespierre 
was  chief  of  Jacobins  and  Commune.  The  Jac- 
obins were  in  power  from  June  2,  1793,  till  July 

•  Thiers,  Vol.  IV.  pp.  13.  >4.  1  Koch. 


8o  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

28,  1794.  The  Girondists  had  tried  to  stop  the 
terrible  violence. 

In  April,  1793,  the  Convention  resolved  that  it 
would  not  intermeddle  with  governments  of  other 
nations,  nor  permit  them  to  meddle  with  French 
internal  affairs.*  The  same  declaration  was  put 
into  the  Jacobin  Constitution  of  August  10,  1793.  t 

Marat,  ill  at  his  home  —  July  14,  1793  —  was  in 
his  bath,  making  lists  of  intended  victims.  Here 
he  was  killed  by  the  girl  Charlotte  Corday.  But 
the  Jacobins  regarded  him  as  a  martyr. 

The  enemies  of  the  Girondists  succeeded  in  out- 
lawing them.  Now  the  Jacobins  and  the  Com- 
mune ruled  alone.  They  adopted  a  new  Jacobin 
constitution  without  much  discussion,  an  execu- 
tive council  of  twenty-four  persons,  a  Legislature 
for  one  year,  but  it  died  at  once. 

August  2,  1793,  on  Danton's  motion  was  created 
the  new  Revolutionary  Despotism,  the  new 
Committee  of  Public  Safety.  Summary  tribunals 
were  hard  at  work  condemning  those  accused. 
Danton,  chief  of  the  Cordeliers,  a  bloody  society, 
was  for  a  time  in  the  lead.  April  5,  1793,  he  had 
a  Commune  army  formed,  chosen  in  towns  from 
the  poorer  class,  to  fight  at  home.  A  frightful  law 
against  suspected  persons  caused  horrors.  The 
Commune  army  dragged  around  guillotines,  and 
used  them.  Business  men  and  women  were  per- 
secuted.    Robespierre    suspected    Danton.     The 

•Decree,  April  i6,  1793.  t  Article,  119. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  8l 

new  Constitution  was  accepted  by  the  primary  as- 
semblies June  24,  but  he  suspended  it  August  28 
and  declared  the  continuance  of  revolution.  "  They 
warred  on  opinions  ;  harassed  political  conscience, 
stirred  up  every  passion,"  said  Barrere,  a  member. 

Seventy-four  deputies  who  protested  against  the 
revolt  of  May  31,  were  arrested  ;  twenty-one  were 
outlawed ;  thirty-nine  were  cited  for  trial  by  the 
bloody  tribunal.  The  furies  sent  to  execution 
twenty-two  Girondist  deputies  because  they  tried 
to  obstruct  the  frightful  excesses.  The  late  queen, 
the  Duke  of  Orleans,  Brissot,  and  many  others, 
great  figures  in  France,  and  obscure  persons  alike 
were  cruillotined.  Besides  these  horrors  war  was 
outside  and  within  France.  Everywhere  was 
terror,  cruelty.  Many  bloody  men  were  in  turn 
beheaded.  Some  of  the  victims  were  guilty  of 
frightful  crimes.  They  took  the  Commune  cal- 
endar, September  22,  1793.  Hebert  and  Chau- 
mette,  two  Commune  chiefs,  obtained  a  decree  to 
abolish  Christianity  November  10,  1793,  and 
established  the  worship  of  Reason.  Some  high 
clergy  apostatized. 

In  the  west  of  France,  Royalist  and  Catholic, 
the  "  Vcndean  "  war  raged.  After  the  success 
at  the  battle  of  Saumur,  June  9,  1793,  all  the  Loire 
towns  but  Nantes  declared  for  royalty.  One  hun- 
dred thousand  Vendeans,  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren, crossed  the  Loire,  after  the  royalist  defeat  at 
Chatillon,  eager  to   reach    the    coast   where   they 


82  THE    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

expected  English  supplies.  Several  battles  oc- 
curred. "  The  Commune  deputy  Carrier  covered 
the  whole  Loire  country  with  slaughter  and  ex- 
erted his  ingenuity  to  invent  new  methods  of 
massacre."*     He  drowned  many,  even  children. 

Bordeau,  Lyons,  Marseilles  and  Toulon  declared 
against  the  bloody  rule.  Bordeau  was  speedily 
subdued  August  25,  1793.  Gen.  Carteaux  re- 
took Marseilles  by  aid  of  its  populace.  Toulon 
proclaimed  Louis  the  Seventeenth  August  29, 
1793,  and  accepted  the  protection  of  the  British 
and  Spanish  fleets  lying  here. 

Lyons  vigorously  resisted.  It  was  taken.  Atro- 
cious barbarities  ensued.  The  convention  ordered 
the  city's  finest  buildings  demolished. 

Toulon  was  retaken  by  assault.  Here  Napoleon 
Bonaparte  first  received  notice.  The  British 
admiral  carried  off  or  destroyed  the  fine  French 
fleet  at  Toulon. 

November  10,  1793,  Paris  and  the  Convention 
celebrated  the  "  Feast  of  Reason  "  at  Notre  Dame. 
An  actress  represented  the  Goddess  of  Reason. 
It  was  also  done  in  other  churches  —  a  Commune 
insanity. 

*  Schoell's  Koch,  Vol.  II.  p.  iSJ. 


THE   world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  83 


XXII. 

THE  Revolution  was  now  three  parties:  (i.) 
The    Committee    of    PubHc    Safety  under 
Robespierre    supported    by   the    Jacobins,    ruled 
absolutely.     (2.)    Hebert,  Chaumette, 
Clootzand  the  Commune,  violent  and      "Vive  Robe- 
of  contemptible  character.    (3.)    Dan-        spierrei- 
ton,  Desmoulins,  Herault  and  others      AbasRobe- 
who  feared  the  extravagant  fury  of        spierrei" 
Robespierre  and  his  villains. 

Robespierre's  party  united  with  the  Danton 
party  to  send  Hebert,  Chaumette  and  some  of 
their  friends  to  execution  March  24,  1794.  Then 
Robespierre  turned  on  the  other  party  and  ex- 
ecuted Danton,  Desmoulins  and  Herault  twelve 
days  later  (April  5).  Now  Robespierre,  renowned 
as  the  "  Incorruptible,"  famous  for  virtue  held  his 
bloody  reign. 

Danton  had  unchained  fiery  passions  ;  Robe- 
spierre set  himself  to  enslave  these  passions. 

The  Convention  voted  without  discussion  what- 
ever the  Jacobin  leader  demanded. 

Robespierre  abolished  the  worship  of  Reason  ;  he 
j)roclaimed  the  existence  of  the  Supreme  Being 
and  of  immortality  and  duty,  by  extraordinary 
ceremony  (June  <S,  1794),  with  himself,  the  bloody 
tyrant,  for  its  leading  supporter  and  high  priest. 


84         THE  world's  greatest  conflict. 

Monsters  such  as  St.  Just,  Couthon,  Baridrc  and 
Collet  urged  greater  celerity  in  condemning  ;  no 
more  delay  ;  no  more  witnesses  ;  haste.  Even 
the  hardened  Convention  recoiled  at  this  ;  but 
Robespierre  insisted  ;  they  decreed  it  ;  there  was 
an  enthusiasm  for  bloodshed  ;  a  wild  frenzy  for 
injustice  ;  a  madness  for  atrocity.  Fouquier-Tin- 
ville  huddled  together  a  crowd  for  condemnation 
by  wholesale..  It  became  necessary  to  restrict  him 
to  sixty  victims  a  day. 

In  forty-eight  days  —  June  lo  to  July  27,  1794  — 
two  thousand  two  hundred  and  eighty-five  were 
executed  !  St.  Just  proposed  that  Robespierre  be 
dictator.  Robespierre  denounced  some  of  the  depu- 
ties and  certain  of  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety. 
This  roused  the  till  now  servile  Convention  to 
self-defense.  It  decreed  arrest  of  Robespierre, 
Couthon  and  St.  Just.  They  were  sent  to  prison. 
The  jailers  refused  to  receive  them.  Again  they 
were  free  ;  they  stood  at  the  head  of  the  assem- 
bling mob.  All  Paris  rushed  into  the  streets.  The 
alarm  bells  rang,  the  barriers  were  closed.  Com- 
mander Herniot  ordered  the  soldiers  to  fire  on  the 
Convention.  It  had  just  decreed  him  outlawed 
and  named  Barras  commandant.  The  gunners  did 
not  fire.  Men  left  their  guns  when  they  heard 
the  decree  that  outlawed  the  Commune,  whose 
head  was  Robespierre. 

Robespierre  saw  himself  lost  ;  he  tried  suicide, 
but,  only   broke  his  jaw  with  a  bullet.     He  was 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  8$ 

promptly  guillotined  with  St.  Just  and  twenty-two 
more  of  his  principal  villains,  July  28,  1794. 
Eighty-three  more  were  executed  within  two  days. 
Many  prisoners  were  released,  but  cruelty  contin- 
ued till  the  end  of  the  Convention. 

Some  of  the  men  who  had  pushed  Robespierre 
to  his  greatest  excesses,  and  taken  part  in  his 
crimes,  aided  to  overthrow  him  to  save  themselves. 

The  public  rejoiced  at  his  fall.  The  Conven- 
tion struck  a  blow  to  the  Commune  by  stopping 
the  forty  cents  a  day,  the  pay  of  members  present. 
This  sent  many  idlers  and  tramps  away  from 
clubs  to  seek  work. 

The  Convention  suppressed  the  Jacobin  club. 
It  restored  si.xty-three  imprisoned  deputies,  twenty- 
seven  banished  and  four  others. 

It  allowed  workmen  refugees  to  return.  In 
Alsace  alone  it  is  said  forty  thousand  work  people 
who  had  fled  the  Terror  returned.  The  country 
had  been  frightfully  desolated.  The  villain  Car- 
rier of  Nantes  was  but  one  of  many  tyrants  of 
provinces.  He  said,  "  It  forms  part  of  the  project 
and  is  the  orders  of  the  Convention  to  lay  waste 
all  means  of  subsistence,  all  provisions  and  for- 
age, to  deliver  to  flames  all  buildings,  and  exter- 
minate all  inhabitants  "  of  the  Loire  district.  The 
distress  was  great ;  great  districts  were  devastated. 

The  cruel  Mountain  Jacobins  accused  before 
the  Convention  incited  mob  revolt,  April  i,  1795- 
Crowds  of  men,  women  and  children  entered  the 


S6         THE  world's  greatest  conflict. 

Convention,  shouting  for  bread  and  for  liberty  of 
these  cut-throats.  But  this  mob  failed  of  its  pur- 
pose. Billaud-Varcnnes,  Collet  d'Herbois  and 
Barrere,  bloody  chiefs,  were  sent  to  prison  and 
later  exiled.* 

Again,  May  20,  an  insurrection  ;  again  women 
invaded  and  insulted  the  Convention.  Behind  the 
women  came  rioters  shouting  for  bread  and  for 
the  Constitution  of  1793.  The  Mountain  allowed 
the  rioters  to  vote  with  them  in  the  Convention 
to  re-establish  Jacobin  power.  National  Guards 
arrived  and  dispersed  the  rioters.  The  Conven- 
tion ordered  arrest  of  the  riotous  Mountain,  and 
many  of  these  savage  men  were  tried  and  executed 
or  banished. 


XXIII. 

IN  1793-94  all  Europe  except  Turkey,  Denmark, 
Sweden,  Portugal  and  Switzerland  made  war 
on  France.     The  French  raised  great  armies.     In 
1794  General  Jourdan  took  Charleroi, 
France  dcfcatcd    thc    Austriaus    at    Fleurus 

against  all       (Juuc    26),    and    conqucrcd    Belgium 
Europe.         from  Austria. 

In  the  southwest  the  French  had 
beaten  the  Spanish,  entered  Spain,  and  beaten 
them  again. 

•Mountain,  the  extremely  violent  party,  who  sat  on  high  seats. 


THE    world's    greatest   CONFLICT.  87 

The  British  took  most  of  the  French  colonies. 
The  British  Admiral  Howe  defeated  the  French 
fleet  off  Ushant,  June  i. 

Favored  by  the  cold  winter  of  1795,  that  per- 
mitted the  crossing  of  rivers  on  the  ice,  and  aided 
by  the  Dutch  patriots,  the  French  General  Pichegru 
occupied  Holland.  (January,  1795.)  The  Dutch 
patriots  re-established  their  old  Republic ;  the 
Prince  of  Orange  (the  Stadtholder)  fled  to  Eng- 
land, and  his  restored  republic  allied  itself  with 
France  May  16,  1795,  and  gave  the  French  one 
million  florins. 

The  Vendeans  having  lost  some  of  their  leaders 
made  peace  with  the  Convention,  February  17, 
1795.  But  the  wicked  Convention  ordered  Cor- 
martin,  the  Chouan  chief,  to  be  shot.  This 
opened  a  new  revolt.  The  English  ministry  tried 
to  help  the  insurgents,  landed  some  French  at 
Ou6beron  (June  i8),  but,  badly  managed,  they 
were  defeated.  Five  hundred  and  sixty  rebels 
were  taken,  and  they  were  shot  by  Tallien's  order. 

The  peace  of  Basle,  April  15,  1795,  ended  war 
with  Prussia  and  Spain.  Tuscany  and  Hesse  too 
made  peace. 


88         THE  world's  greatest  conflict. 


XXIV. 

THE  Convention  framed  a  new  constitution, 
August,  1795.  This  established  a  council 
of  five  hundred,  elected  by  assemblies  chosen 
by  the   voters,  to   originate    laws ;    a    Council   of 

Ancients  with  power  of  veto  ;  and  an 
Famous         Exccutivc  Directory  of  five  members. 
Revolt  of  the      one  to  be  replaced  each  year. 
Sections.  The  Couvcntion,  to  keep  in  power 

and  escape  vengeance  for  their  bloody 
acts,  decreed  that  two  thirds  of  the  new  legisla- 
ture must  be  taken  from  its  members.  Both 
constitution  and  decree  were  to  be  voted  on  to- 
gether as  one  proposition.  This  coupling  excited 
great  discontent.  Paris  was  terribly  agitated.  It 
wished  to  accept  the  constitution  and  reject  the 
decree.  It  wanted  riddance  of  the  members  of  the 
convention.  The  departments  of  France  accepted 
both  ;  so  did  the  army.  The  convention  brought 
five  thousand  regular  soldiers  ;  they  annoyed  the 
citizens'  meetings  ;  they  summoned  the  National 
Guards  of  Section  Lepelletier  to  surrender  its 
arms.  The  Section  refused.  Resistance  was 
appearing.  The  National  Guard  assembled  Octo- 
ber 4.  General  Menon  was  ordered  to  disperse 
it,  but  failed.  At  eleven  at  night  the  convention 
gave    Barras    full    powers.     He  put    in  command 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  89 

General  Napoleon  Bonaparte.    Lieutenant  Joachim 
Murat  brought  up  the  fifty  cannon. 

Early  October  5,  the  Sections  and  National 
Guard  appeared,  thirty  thousand  strong.  It  had 
been  reorganized  to  contain  only  well-to-do  men. 
Bonaparte  had  placed  the  regulars  around  the 
Tuileries.  The  Sections  began  firing  on  the 
regulars  near  the  church  of  St.  Roch.  The  artil- 
lery replied  with  rapid  discharges  of  grape-shot. 
The  Sections  made  a  sharp  fight,  but  the  artillery 
cleared  them  in  a  few  minutes.  On  the  opposite 
side  of  the  Tuileries  the  Sections  carried  the 
bridge  Neuf,  and  pressed  on ;  at  twenty  yards 
Bonaparte  gave  them  a  heavy  fire  of  grape.  They 
stood  a  few  minutes,  did  not  charge,  lost  confi- 
dence, and  victory  was  decided  against  them. 

It  was  the  last  insurrection  of  the  people  of 
Paris  till  a  generation  later,  in  1830.  The  revo- 
lutions between  1795  and  1830  were  not  the  work 
of  Paris  or  the  mob  or  people.  These  insurgents 
of  1795  were  not  the  rabble.  It  was  against  the 
best  men  of  Paris  that  Bonaparte  made  his  first 
victory,  this  in  front  of  St.  Roch. 

Few  severe  punishments  followed.  The  Con- 
vention soon  declared  amnesty. 

October  26,  1795,  the  Convention  ended.  It 
had  chosen  one  hundrcrl  and  four  members  of  the 
new  councils. 

Paper  assignats  were  18,933,500,000  francs. 
Franco    tried    to    borrow    600,000,000    in    specie, 


QO  THE    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

but  without  success.  France  was  bankrupt  for 
39,000,000,000  francs  !  Two  other  kinds  of  paper 
were  tried.  Both  failed.  Trade  was  done  in 
barter.     Heavy  taxes  became  imperative. 

In  the  south  many  Jacobins  were  massacred. 
Furious  scenes  of  fire  and  carnage  occurred.  It 
was  the  reaction  ;  France  was  on  the  road  to 
consolidated  despotism. 


XXV. 

THE  French  offered  liberation  to  Italy.    Italy 
was  not  united  in  feeling.     No  two  States 
had  the  same  needs,  wishes  or  inclinations.     Jeal- 
ous  of   each  other,  they  were  bound 
Italy  after        to    local    habits,    capriccs,    dislikes. 
1789-  Class  differences  were  still  more  dis- 

Napoieon.  couraging.  Thinkers  were  at  strife 
against  aristocracy  and  the  feudalism 
of  Naples.  Many  nobles  held  revolutionary  sen- 
timents. They  did  not  follow  the  example  of  the 
French  noblesse  by  emigrating,  and  few  bloody 
excesses  stain  the  Italians  of  the  Italian  Revolu- 
tion of  1 796-1 802,  except  the  massacres  of  Verona, 
April  17,  1797,  and  of  Naples  of  1799.* 

It  was  the  middle  and  higher  classes  that  gave 
the  impulse  to  reform.  The  rural  lower  class, 
victims  of  abuses  both  church  and  secular,  gave 

•Spaulding's  Italy,  Vol.  III.  pp.  16-19. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  QI 


only  blind,  sluggish  submission  to  the  revolution, 
and  sometimes  turned  fitfully  against  those  who 
sou£:ht  to  lisfhten  their  burdens.* 

The  numerous  clergy,  with  few  exceptions,  were 
hostile  to  changes.    The  thinkers  favored  reform. f 

In  religion,  Italy  had  many  quiet  disbelievers  ; 
few  worshipers  of  the  Goddess  of  Reason.  They 
doubted  dogmas  without  disclaiming  faith.  The 
ignorant  crippled  liberty. J  In  the  south,  many 
nobles  and  a  few  of  the  middle  class  aided  their 
hindering  efforts. 

Queen  Caroline  of  Naples  was  a  daughter  of  the 
late  Empress  Maria  Theresa  of  Austria.  Her 
husband,  King  Ferdinand,  a  weak  and  wicked 
prince,  was  completely  under  her  influence. §  She 
and  her  favorite,  Acton,  ruled  the  kingdom. 
Ferdinand  was  a  brother  of  the  depraved  king, 
Charles  the  Fourth  of  Spain,  and  son  of  Charles 
the  Third  of  Spain  and  Naples.  ||  The  Govern- 
ment imposed  extra  taxes,  robbed  the  banks  of 
deposits,  set  spies  on  men  of  liberal  views,  organ- 
ized arbitrary  commissions  to  try  political  cases, 
excluded  foreign  books  and  newspapers,  and  robbed 
the  churches  of  property  for  use  of  Government.^ 
In  the  courts  of  Naples  and  Sicily  plots  were  dis- 
covered, torture  used  to  compel  confession  of 
guilt,  and  plotters  executed. 


•Spaulding'sllaly,  Vol.  III.  \  Jbid.  %  Ibid. 

§  Chambers'  Cyclopxdia,  Vol.  V.  p.  785.  II  Ibid. 

t  Uotta,  Vol.  I.  II.  293;  Colctta,  Vol.  III. 


92  THE    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 


Leopold,  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  became  Ger- 
man Emperor  (Austrian)  in  1790.  In  1791  Tuscan 
peasants,  prompted  by  priests,  clamored  for  revival 
of  religious  abuses  in  forms  and  societies  that 
Leopold  had  abolished  as  superstitious  and  hurtful. 
Yet  in  his  reign  he  had  advocated  reform  in  Church 
and  State,  established  a  new  criminal  code  and 
penitentiaries,  abolished  the  Inquisition  and  the 
death  penalty,  equalized  the  land  tax,  favored 
free  trade,  and  founded  schools  and  almshouses.* 

But  Ferdinand,  Duke  of  Parma,  introduced  the 
odious  inquisition  in  Parma. 

September  18,  1792,  the  French  National 
Assembly  made  war  on  Victor  Amadeus  the 
Third,  king  of  Sardinia  (Piedmont).  His  people 
did  not  wish  to  fight  for  him,  so  in  two  weeks 
the  French  troops  held  Savoy  and  Nice.  In  1793 
they  seized  the  mountain  passes  in  Piedmont. 

In  January,  1793,  the  Roman  populace  stoned 
the  French  Republican  agent  to  death. 

The  French  were  expelled  from  Italy  in  1795, 
but  their  victory  of  Loano,  November  24,  gave 
them  again  a  foothold.  Bonaparte  began  the 
Italian  campaign  of  1796  by  marching  quickly 
down  the  Alps,  gained  the  victories  of  Montenotte 
over  Austrians,  of  Melessimo  over  Italians,  and 
of  Dego  over  Austrians  (April  12,  13  and  14)  — 
three  victories  in  three  days  !  And  a  week  later 
another  at  Mondovi.     Piedmont's  king  accepted  an 

•Chambers'  Cyclopxdia,  Vol.  VI II.  p.  814. 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  93 

armistice,  April  27,  and  peace,  May  15.  He  ceded 
Savoy  and  Nice,  gave  French  armies  free  passage 
through  Piedmont,  and  allowed  them  to  occupy 
his  fortresses  of  Coni,  Allessandra  and  Tortoni. 
Paris  was  astonished. 

He  put  into  the  treaty  Piedmont's  consent  for 
him  to  cross  the  Po  at  Valentia.  The  Austrians 
watched  for  him  there,  but  he  crossed  at  Placentia. 
He  entered  Parma,  and  compelled  its  defenceless 
duke  to  give  him  one  thousand  six  hundred 
horses,  two  million  francs,  great  army  supplies,  and 
twenty  of  Parma's  finest  paintings. 

May  10.  Then  Bonaparte  marched  on  Milan. 
At  Lodi  bridge  sixteen  thousand  Austrians  met 
him.  Twenty  cannon  defended  the  bridge.  Bona- 
parte formed  six  thousand  grenadiers  in  solid 
column  behind  buildings.  His  cannon  opened  on 
the  Austrians.  Soon  as  he  saw  their  fire  slacken, 
his  six  thousand  grenadiers  suddenly  appeared, 
charged  across  the  bridge,  took  the  cannon,  and 
drove  the  Austrians. 

He  entered  Milan  in  triumph.  May  15.  The 
Milanese  were  transported  with  joy ;  they  believed 
they  saw  the  regenerator  of  Italy.  But  he  de- 
manded twenty  million  francs  from  that  one  city, 
and  ten  million  francs  with  twenty  of  his  best 
paintings  from  the  Duke  of  Modena.  He  made 
great  recpiisitions  for  horses  and  food,  for  which 
he  paid  nothing  or  almost  worthless  paper  money. 
He  had  begun  his  terrible  system  of  making  war 


94 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 


support  war,  that  soon  impoverished  Europe. 
France  teemed  with  men  ;  it  lacked  money  ;  revo- 
lutionary violence  had  destroyed  its  prosperity. 

The  Directory  became  afraid  of  him  ;  it  ordered 
that  Kellermann  command  in  North  Italy  and 
Bonaparte  march  on  Rome  and  Naples.  Napoleon 
instantly  resigned.  He  saw  that  to  divide  the 
army  would  allow  the  Austrians  to  beat  both 
halves.     The  Directory  reinstated  him. 

The  Lombards  did  not  regard  themselves  as 
conquered  ;  they  were  offended  by  the  great  de- 
mands of  the  French.  But  Republican  clubs 
were  everywhere  founded.  This  aroused  the  lower 
class  and  the  ignorant  monks.  At  Pavia  they  rose 
and  expelled  the  French.  Napoleon  hastened 
there,  retook  the  town,  gave  it  up  to  plunder, 
shot  the  magistrates  and  leaders,  and  killed  great 
numbers  of  peasants.*     It  was  cruel. 

He  moved  against  the  Pope's  States,  seized 
Bologna  and  Ferarra,  and  granted  the  Pope  armis- 
tice on  his  furnishing  great  war  supplies,  paying 
twenty  million  francs  and  one  hundred  of  the 
finest  works  of  art  to  adorn  Paris.f  He  sent 
Murat  into  neutral  Tuscany  to  commit  atrocious 
robbery  of  British  merchants  at  Leghorn  —  a 
crime  against  the  Law  of  Nations  —  and  sold 
their  goods  for  about  twelve  million  francs.  This 
was  simply  crime.     Some   Italian  villages  $  were 

•Alison,  Vol.  I.  p.  405-407.  t  Ibid.  X  Brescia,  Lago. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  95 

burned  and  peasants  in    great  number  murdered 
by  his  orders  and  by  his  officers. 

A  new  Austrian  army  came  to  Italy  and  drove 
Bonaparte  from  the  siege  of  Mantua.  But  he 
defeated  the  Austrian  enemy  at  Castiglione  and 
Medola.  Still  again  the  Austrians  approached 
Mantua.  Bonaparte  beat  them  in  several  battles 
and  drove  them  into  Mantua  fortress. 

Naples,  Genoa  and  Parma  then  made  peace  with 
France.  Two  more  Austrian  armies  entered 
Italy,  but  Bonaparte  defeated  one  at  Arcole 
(November  17),  and  the  other  at  Rivoli  (November 
21).  Nearly  all  Italy  was  in  Bonaparte's  power. 
Mantua  surrendered  with  eighteen  thousand  Aus- 
trians and  five  hundred  cannon.  Bonaparte  broke 
his  truce  and  advanced  towards  Rome,  took 
Ancona,  and  compelled  the  Pope  to  purchase 
peace  by  relinquishing  Bologna,  Ferrara  and 
Romagna  and  paying  a  great  sum. 

In  Corsica  Paoli  arranged  a  constitution  which 
acknowledged  George  the  Third  of  England. 

Ferdinand,  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  was  the 
first  sovereign  to  recognize  the  French  Republic. 
He  made  a  treaty  with  it  in  T^ebruary,  1795,  and 
assumed  neutrality. 

Venice  feared  Austria  and  hated  Paris  democ- 
racy. Genoa  feared  it  might  lose  its  commerce. 
Austrian  Lombardy,  dissatisfied  with  the  juiblic 
burdens  and  insolence  of  Austrian  officials,  desired 
a  change. 


96  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 


XXVI. 

LOMBARDY  wished  to  be  an    independent 
republic.     So  did  the  eastern  papal  States. 
The  French  Directory  hesitated. 

Reggio  was  in    revolt   against    its 
Italy  before       old  government. 

1800.  Modena   was    uneasy.      Bonaparte 

charged  its  duke  with  violating  neu- 
trality, deposed  him,  and  declared  Modena  and 
Reggio  free. 

At  Bonaparte's  instigation  deputies  chosen  by 
the  lawyers,  landholders  and  merchants  erected 
Modena,  Reggio,  Papal  Bologna,  Ferrara  and 
Mirandola — all  the  country  between  the  Po  and 
Rome  —  into  the  Cispadine  Republic  in  1796; 
that  north  of  the  Po  was  made  the  Transpadane 
Republic. 

In  February,  1797,  Bonaparte  defeated  the 
Papal  troops  at  Tolentino.  He  compelled  the  Pope 
to  cede  all  claim  to  Bologna,  Ferrara  and  Romagna 
to  the  Cispadine  Republic,  to  give  Avignon  to 
France,  to  pay  large  sums  to  redeem  the  other 
Papal  provinces,  and  to  send  to  Paris  one  hundred 
works  of  art. 

Bonaparte  pressed  the  war  on  towards  the  heart 
of  Austria.  When  he  had  reached  within  twenty- 
five  leagues  of  Vienna,  Austria  yielded  and  agreed 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  9/ 

to  the  preliminaries  of  the  "Peace  of  Leoben," 
April  18,  1797. 

Austria  gave  up  the  Netherlands  (Belgium)  to 
France,  which  thus  gained  the  Rhine  as  its 
frontier. 

Austria  renounced  Lombardy  and  agreed  to 
acknowledge  the  Cispadine  Republic. 

But,  with  Bonaparte's  aid,  Austria  robbed 
Venice  of  its  mainland  provinces,  Illyria,  Istria, 
and  Upper  Italy  west  to  the  Oglio.  These 
Venetian  territories  were  already  in  the  republican 
revolt.  But  Bonaparte  left  them  to  the  hard  fate 
of  Austrian  rule.  Had  Bonaparte  been  as  willing 
to  part  with  Illyria  in  1813,  it  might  have  saved 
him  his  throne. 

At  Verona  a  mob,  headed  by  a  few  nobles  and 
clergy,  assaulted  the  French.  A  massacre  occurred 
April  17,  1797.  The  French  gave  it  a  bloody 
suppression,  April  20. 

In  a  disturbance  at  Venice  several  French 
privateersmen  were  killed.  So  Bonaparte  declared 
war  on  Venice.  He  compelled  the  Venetian 
Grand  Council  to  decree  its  own  dissolution,  May 
12,  1797,  by  a  vote  of  five  hundred  and  twelve  to 
twenty.  A  tumult  at  once  arose  in  the  streets. 
It  was  suppressed,  and  May  16  a  treaty  was 
signed  at  Milan  between  France  and  the  new 
Venetian  Republic,  and  Venice,  ostensibly  at  its 
own  request,  was  garrisoned  by  French  troops. 
When  asked  to  procure  ratification  of  the  treaty, 


98  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

Bonaparte  reminded  the  Council  that  it  had  prior 
to  the  treaty  deprived  itself  of  all  power  by  its 
own  vote  to  dissolve  the  Council,  that  the  treaty 
was  null,  and  that  France  would  decide  what  to 
do  with  Venice.* 

Bonaparte  united  the  Cispadine  and  Transpadane 
republics  and  formed  thus  the  Cisalpine  Republic, 
which  embraced  Lombardy,  Mantua,  Bergime, 
Brescia,  Cremona,  Verona  and  Rovigo,  the  duchy 
of  Modena,  the  principality  of  Massa  and  Carrara, 
and  the  legations  of  Bologna,  Ferrara  and  Ro- 
magna,  with  sixteen  thousand  square  miles,  and 
three  million  five  hundred  thousand  inhabitants.! 
Bonaparte  proclaimed  that  France  had  obtained 
by  conquest  the  Austrian-Italian  States,  and  pro- 
nounced the  new  state  independent. 

All  natives  twenty-one  years  old,  except  vaga- 
bonds, might  be  citizens.  It  had  an  executive  of 
five  Directors,  a  law-making  Council  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty,  and  a  Senate  of  eighty  members. 
All  the  original  members  were  appointed  by 
Bonaparte.  Milan  was  its  capital.  Its  army  was 
twenty  thousand  French  troops,  paid  by  Italy. 
In  1798  an  alliance  offensive  and  defensive  was 
made  with  France. 

The  Cisalpine  Republic  was  dissolved  in  1799 
by  the  Austrian  and  Russian  victories  over  the 
French  and  Italians,  but  was  restored   after  the 

*Dam,  Histoire  de  Vcnise,  Tome  V.  ;  Botta,  Vol.  H.  225-320. 
t  Chambers's  Cyclopsdia,  Cibalpine. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  99 

victory  of  Marengo  of  June  14,  1800,  by  Bonaparte, 
its  territory  increased,  its  constitution  modified, 
and  the  name  of  the  "Italian  Republic"  was  given 
it  in  1802. 

In  Genoa,  June,  1797,  democracy  was  recog- 
nized, and  a  provisional  government  given  it  by 
Bonaparte.  In  September,  1797,  many  armed 
peasants  opposed  to  democracy  and  the  new  order 
of  affairs,  attacked  the  city.  They  were  beaten 
with  great  slaughter,  by  the  French  and  the 
militia.*  December  2,  1797,  the  people  approved 
a  constitution  like  the  Cisalpine,  and  Genoa 
became  the  Ligurian  Republic! 

In  1796  French  armies  under  Jourdan  and 
Moreau  invaded  Germany  and  laid  immense  con- 
tributions or  robberies.  Moreau  reached  Bavaria, 
but  the  Austrians  made  a  brilliant  campaign  ;  they 
beat  Jourdan  at  Amberg  August  24  and  at  Wents- 
burg  September  3  and  sent  both  French  armies 
hastening  back  to  France.  The  British  had  taken 
most  French  foreign  islands.  The  French  fleets 
were  blockaded,  destitute.  Political  violence  that 
destroyed  French  prosperity  had  ruined  its  navy 
by  loss  of  means. 

By  treaty  of  St.  Ildefonso  August  19,  1796, 
Spain  and  T'rance  agreed  to  assist  each  other  in 
case  of  attack,  with  twenty-four  thousand  troops, 
thirty  ships  of  the  line  and  si.x  frigates. 

•Chambers's  Cyclopxdia.  t  Spaulding,  Vol.  III.  pp.  28-30. 


lOO  THE    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

Ireland  was  threatened  with  a  French  invasion, 
but  a  storm  dispersed  the  expedition. 

France  had  acquired  Belgium,  Savoy  and  Nice 
and  its  armies  held  Holland  and  Northern  Italy, 
when  Pitt  sent  an  envoy  with  the  British  offer  of 
recognition,  peace  and  restoration  of  the  French 
colonies,  on  condition  that  France  give  Belgium 
to  Austria  ;  Holland  to  the  Prince  of  Orange  whom 
the  Dutch  patriots  had  driven  away  ;  and  aban- 
doned all  the  rich  conquests  in  Italy  —  proposals  of 
massive  absurdity.  Their  acceptance  would  have 
overturned  any  French  government.  Their  stu- 
pidity was  eminently  worthy  of  George  the  Third. 
Corsica  revolted  from  the  British  in  1796  and 
formed  a  democratic  government. 

The  naval  events  of  1796  were  the  British  fleet 
mutinies  of  the  Channel  and  Nore,  and  the  two 
frreat  British  victories  of  St.  Vincent  over  the 
Spanish  fleet  and  Camperdown  over  the  Dutch, 
both  allies  of  France. 

In  Paris  the  Communist  conspiracy  of  Babeuf 
to  overthrow  the  Directory  and  make  equality  of 
property,  was  discovered  and  suppressed.  Strong 
royalist  reaction  appeared.  Many  emigrants  and 
priests  came  back.  The  election  for  the  yearly 
third  of  the  councils  went  against  the  Directory. 

The  Directory  assembled  troops,  arrested  Royal- 
ists deputies  (September  3,  1797),  annulled  elec- 
tions of  forty-eight  deputies,  and  left  their  places 
vacant.     They  exiled  to  Guiana  sixteen  leaders. 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  lOI 

They  dismissed  many  judges,  abciished  juries, 
banished  nobles  and  priests.  The  emigrants  fled 
anew.     Bonaparte  had  aid.ed  this  aggrcseicn 


XXVII. 

DECEMBER,  1797,  a  riot  occurred  in  Rome. 
The  French  general,  Duphot,  was  shot  on 
the  French  ambassador's  staircase.  Papal  soldiers 
and  French  partisans  were  quarreling. 

In  February,  1798,  Berthier,  with     The  Republics 
a  French  army,  occupied  Rome  and         of  itaiy. 
demanded  that  Pius  the  Ninth  resign 
the  temporal  sovereignty,  remain  universal  bishop 
and  receive  a  great  pension. 

The  Pope  refused.  He  was  conducted  to  Tus- 
cany, and  thence  to  France  a  prisoner.  A  revolt 
was  quelled  by  the  French  with  bloodshed. 

French  soldiers,  "  defrauded  of  their  pay,  and  dis- 
gusted by  the  rapine  of  their  superior  officers," 
mutinied  at  Rome  and  Mantau  ;  General  Massena, 
said  to  be  the  worst  offender,  resigned. 

March  20,  1798,  the  Roman  Republic  was  pro- 
claimed.    It  was  an  imitation  of  the  French.* 

The  Italian  Republics  were  required  to  receive 
and  support  French  troops.  France  dominated 
them. 

•  Thiers.     Botta. 


102  THE    WORLDS    GREATEST    CONFLICT, 

Intlie  Cisalpirnj  Republic  (August,  1798),  the 
French  envoy,  TrouvcS  cjictated  a  new  constitu- 
tipn..  It  v/as  frregub.rly  accepted.  Other  changes 
followed.     The  people  were  disaffected. 


XXVIII. 

BONAPARTE  had  returned  to  Paris  in  De- 
cember, 1797.     He  was  greeted  with  great 
enthusiasm  wherever  he  appeared.     But  he  avoided 
public    places.     He    kept    the    com- 
The  rise  of  the     pauy  of   his  officcrs  and   of   learned 
Conqueror.       mcu,  worc  thc  drcss  of  the  institute, 
and    lived    as    quietly   and    privately 
at  his  own  house. 

A  plan  was  formed,  and  many  troops  and  vessels 
collected  for  the  invasion  of  England.  It  was  sup- 
posed to  be  Napoleon's  plan,  but  he  seems  to  have 
then  foreseen  the  impossibility  of  sustaining  an  in- 
vading army  in  England,  even  if  it  were  once 
safely  landed. 

General  Bonaparte  first  won  distinction  as  an 
artillery  officer  at  the  siege  of  Toulon  in  1793. 
He  saved  the  Government  from  overthrow  by  sup- 
pressing the  revolt  of  the  sections  at  Paris,  Octo- 
ber 4,  1795,  thus  ending  the  French  Revolution. 
The  Directory  rewarded  him  with  thc  command 
of  the  army  of  Italy.     His  masterly  strategy  in 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  IO3 

Italy  which  resulted  in  brilliant  victories  and  a 
triumphant  campaign,  had  placed  him  in  the  front 
rank  of  great  commanders. 

In  1797  the  Directory  wanted  to  extend  France 
to  the  Rhine.  So  they  rejected  Bonaparte's  peace 
of  Leoben  with  Austria. 

Bonaparte  had  promised  to  give  up  Mantua  fort- 
ress. But  he  refused  to  keep  his  word.  He 
threatened  to  renew  the  war  unless  Austria  agreed 
to  the  Rhine  boundary,  and  relinquished  claim  to 
Mantua. 

Then  Austria  submitted  to  make  with  him  the 
Treaty  of  Campo  Formio,  October  7,  1797. 

This  divided  between  them  as  spoil,  the  Repub- 
lic of  Venice,  though  the  Paris  Directory  had  for- 
bidden him  to  do  it.  The  Adige  was  made  the 
boundary.  Bonaparte  ruthlessly  seized  for  France, 
Venice's  Ionian  Islands. 

Austria  ceded  Belgium  to  France,  and  was  to 
receive  Salsburg. 

In  1798  the  French  stimulated  revolt  in  Switzer- 
land. Her  army  went  to  Berne  and  robbed  the 
Swiss  treasury  of  about  five  million  dollars.  It  also 
seized  three  hundred  cannon  and  forty  thousand 
muskets.  It  instigated  the  new  Constitution  of 
April  12,  1798,  and  required  alliance  offensive  and 
defensive.  It  extensively  robbed  the  Swiss.  It 
united  Geneva  and  free  Mulhousen  with  France, 
and  set  all  Switzerland  in  turmoil  and  strife. 

The  Egyptian  campaign  was  proposed.     Bona- 


104    '^"^^  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT. 

parte  saw  in  it  his  hope  of  humbling  the  British 
power  in  the  East.  The  Nile  might  be  a  good 
point  through  which  French  power  and  French 
armies  were  to  reach  the  rich  countries  and  com- 
mercial seas  of  India.  A  rich  commerce  from 
the  East,  when  it  should  have  been  subdued, 
was  to  be  controlled  by  France.  The  ports  of 
Italy,  Malta,  Corfu  and  Alexandria  would  be  in 
his  possession. 

With  forty  thousand  men  he  sailed  to  attack 
peaceful  Egypt,  May  19,  1798.  He  obtained 
Malta  by  capitulation  of  recalcitrant  knights.  His 
only  title  was  force. 

A  barbarous  decree  of  the  Directory,  that  any 
neutral  vessel  bearing  English  goods,  or  having 
touched  at  an  English  port,  should  be  lawful  prize ; 
and  the  seizure  of  many  American  vessels  ;  and 
the  attempt  to  extort  tribute  of  several  millions 
from  America  to  France  and  many  thousands  as 
bribery  to  the  Directory,  brought  on  a  quasi-wdiX 
with  the  United  States  (1798)  ;  Washington  took 
command  of  the  American  army ;  treaties  were 
suspended,  and  several  sea  fights  occurred. 

The  Americans  resisted,  but  the  Hanse  Towns,  ^ 
unable  to  resist,  were  forced  to  pay  the  Directory 
great  sums  for  their  own  right  to  trade. 

The  French  fleet  that  carried  Bonaparte's  army 
to  Egypt  was  almost  destroyed  in  the  great  Brit- 
ish victory  of  the  Nile,  August  i,  1798. 

The   Congress  of    Rastadt  could  agree  on  no 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     IO5 

peace,  but  it  continued  to  sit  for  some  time  to 
gain  time  for  both  sides  to  prepare  for  battles. 

Naples,  too,  soon  began  the  war  by  invading 
Rome  with  eighty  thousand  men  (November, 
1798).  The  F'rench  defeated  them  and  followed 
their  retreat  ;  the  cowardly  king,  Ferdinand  the 
Fourth,  fled  to  Sicily,  but  the  lazzaroni,  braver  than 
their  master,  fought  the  enemy  for  three  days, 
before  the  French  became  masters  of  Naples. 

The  French  formed  Naples  into  the  Parthe- 
nopean  Republic,  similar  to  the  other  Italian  re- 
publics. The  nobles  were  divided,  the  middle  class 
eager  for  the  Republic  ;  the  lazzaroni  became 
quiet  ;  what  friends  the  king  had  were  powerless. 

But  soon  came  bloody  scenes.  Cardinal  Ruffo, 
a  ruffian,  as  royal  vicar,  organized  ruffians,  robbers 
and  lazzaroni  into  royal  irregulars  for  villains' 
work.  Count  Ruvo,  supported  by  the  French, 
was  pitted  against  Ruffo.  Both  waged  barbarous 
conflict,  revenge,  torture,  extermination  with  fright- 
ful atrocity. 

France  made  war  on  Charles  Emmanuel  the 
Fourth  of  Sardinia  (December,  1798),  and  he  re- 
nounced his  throne  and  commanded  his  subjects 
to  obey  the  new  government  made  by  the  French 
and  Picdmontese  in  Northern  Italy.  He  soon 
after  died. 

Then  came  the  establishment  of  the  French 
system  of  conscriptions.  Every  Frenchman  from 
twenty  to  forty  years  was  made  liable  to  service. 


I06  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

It  was  applied  to  Switzerland  and  Holland  as  well 
as  to  Belgium.  This  law  it  was  that  supported 
Napoleon's  great  wars  from  1799  to  18 15. 

One  third  of  the  French  Councils  were  to  be 
elected  annually.  In  March,  1799,  ^^e  elections 
were  against  the  Directory.  Sieyes  became  a 
Director  in  place  of  Rewbel  ;  the  other  two  of  the 
bayonet  Directory  of  September  3,  1797,  were 
compelled  to  resign.  Jacobinism  revived.  The 
clubs  reopened.  But  France  was  no  longer  in 
frenzy  ;  Paris  did  not  rise.  But  civil  war  renewed 
in  Vendee,  religious  and  political.  Severe  taxes 
and  forced  robbery  of  citizens,  called  forced  loans, 
were  severely  enforced. 

In  January,  1799,  Lucca  became  French  repub- 
lican.    In  March  the  French  seized  Tuscany. 

In  Germany,  Archduke  Charles  of  Austria  de- 
feated the  French  under  Jourdan  at  Pullendorf 
and  Stechach,  March  20-25  (1799),  and  drove 
them  back  to  France. 

In  Italy  the  French  under  Sherer  were  defeated 
by  Austrian  Kray  at  Legnano  (March  25),  Roco 
(March  30)  and  Verona  (April  5). 

The  Russians,  under  Suwarov,  arrived,  united 
with  the  Austrians,  and  defeated  Moreau  at  Cas- 
sano  (April  27). 

December  3  the  French  lost  the  battle  of  Coni. 
All  Lombardy,  all  Italy  was  taken  from  French 
rule.  The  peasants  frequently  rose  and  aided  the 
allies ;    Massena,   cooped  up  in    Genoa,  besieged, 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     I07 

famished,  had  the  only  French  troops  left  in 
all  Italy. 

In  Naples  after  the  French  retired  the  republic 
fell  at  once ;  the  outrages  committed  by  the  Royal- 
ist party  were  most  revolting:  murder,  torture, 
republicans  slowly  strangled  or  burned  on  slow 
fires  while  furies  danced  and  yelled  around  them. 
For  two  days  the  horrible  work  went  on  ;  death 
without  torture  was  accepted  by  republicans  as 
mercy  ;  the  details  are  too  sickening  to  relate. 

Two  castles  surrendered  on  condition  promised 
that  republicans  should  be  carried  to  Toulon  or 
remain  unmolested,  but  Admiral  Nelson  arrived, 
bringing  the  worthless  runaway  king,  Ferdinand 
the  Fourth.  The  treaty  was  discarded.  Arbitrary 
commissions  tried  these  prisoners.  Four  thousand 
were  executed  ;  a  fearful  royal  offset  against  the 
French  oligarchy's  Reign  of  Terror. 

Forty-five  thousand  more  Russians  under  Kor- 
sakov,  and  thirty  thousand  Austrians,  came  to 
Switzerland  and  defeated  the  French.  Suwarov 
crossed  the  Alps  from  Italy.  General  Massena 
defeated  Korsakov  at  Zurich  and  drove  him  to  a 
remarkable  march  across  the  Grisons,  to  .Suwarov. 

The  Turkish  and  Russian  fleets  took  from  France 
the  Ionian  Islands  of  which  Bonaparte  had  robbed 
Venice. 


108  THE    world's    GREATF.ST    CONFLICT. 


XXIX. 

ON  March  3,  1799,  Bonaparte,  in  his  attempt 
to  conquer  Syria,  reached  Jaffa,  the  ancient 
Joppa.  Its  fortifications  contained  a  garrison  of 
more  than  four  thousand  men.     He 

Egypt.  took    it    by    assault    and,    for    thirty 

hours,  dehvered  it  up  to  pillage  and 
murder.     Many  prisoners  were  taken. 

Thiers  *  says,  "  Bonaparte  decided  upon  1  terri- 
ble measure  .  .  .  Transported  into  a  barbarous 
country  he  had  involuntarily  adopted  its  measures. 
He  caused  these  prisoners  to  pass  under  the  edge 
of  the  sword."  But  Bonaparte  had  no  right  to  be 
there  at  all.  Morally  he  had  no  authorization  that 
a  pirate  on  the  seas  does  not  also  have.  His  only 
guarantee  was  brute  force,  and  it  was  brutally  ex- 
ecuted. He  had  attacked  a  Mohammedan  country 
and  shown  it  that  he  was  a  barbarian  ;  had  dis- 
graced the  civilization  of  Europe.  That  this  was 
not  his  only  cruel  act  we  shall  see. 

These  men  were  captured  ;  they  were  helpless. 
No  arms  were  now  in  their  hands.  Had  Bona- 
parte not  been  an  unprovoked  invader ;  had  he 
even  been  as  these  prisoners  were,  defenders  of 
their  own  country  and  their  homes  against  a  for- 
eign foe  of  another  race,  another  civilization  and 

*  A  French  historian  and  statesman  and  defender  of  Bonaparte. 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     IO9 

another  religion,  even  in  that  case  this  bloody 
massacre  would  still  have  been  atrocious,  whole- 
sale murder. 

Fortunately  for  the  checking  of  this  barbarous 
campaign,  an  English  officer  captured  some  heavy 
artillery,  sent  by  sea  for  Bonaparte,  and  with  it 
landed  British  forces  for  the  successful  defense  of 
Acre.  Although  the  French  under  Kleber  de- 
feated the  Damascus  army  near  Mt.  Tabor,  yet 
the  assault  on  Acre,  instead  of  -giving  Bonaparte 
the  key  to  Syria,  was  defeated  and  his  retreat  to 
Egypt  was  constantly  harassed  by  the  pursuing 
Turks  and  Arabs  whose  tempers  were  sharpened 
to  vengeance  by  the  atrocities  of  Bonaparte.  The 
I'Vench,  sick  and  exhausted,  fell  upon  the  burn- 
ing sands.  The  pursuers  killed  every  straggler. 
Bonaparte  retreated  to  Cairo,  where  he  pretended 
to  be  a  conqueror.  The  terrible  defeat  he  had  re- 
ceived in  his  Syrian  campaign  was  a  great  chagrin 
to  his  ambition. 

A  Turkish  army  landed  in  Egypt.  Bonaparte 
defeated  and  routed  it  at  Aboukir.  Bonaparte 
left  Egypt  August  23,  1799,  to  seize  the  govern- 
ment of  France. 

The  plea  in  excuse  of  this  frightful  murder  of 
prisoners  is  that  the  French  had  no  means  of 
sending  them  to  Egypt,  that  the  French  army  was 
itself  in  want  of  rations  ;  that  to  free  the  prison- 
ers would  be  to  increase  the  number  of  its  own 
enemies.     The  matter  was  debated  in  a  council  of 


no  Tin:    WORLDS    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

war  before  the  bloody  executions  by  musketry  and 
bayonets.  Such  was  the  lesson  in  inhumanity 
that  the  barbarity  of  Napoleon  taught  to  the  East. 

General  Kleber  was  left  with  forces  much  de- 
pleted by  war  and  plague.  In  vain  he  made  a 
gallant  struggle.  He  was  murdered  by  a  fanatic 
Turk. 

Napoleon's  Egyptian  war  convicts  him  of  atro- 
cious motive  ;  neither  he  nor  France  had  any 
previous  quarrel  with  or  provocation  from  Egypt 
or  Turkey.  He  invaded,  in  the  evil  spirit  of  con- 
quest, a  peaceful  people.  A  robber  takes  property 
and  goes  his  way  ;  Bonaparte  intended  to  also  take 
from  Moslems  the  sacred  right  of  government. 


XXX. 

IN  the  final  treaty  of  peace,  September  23,  1783, 
Great  Britain  acknowledged  the  independence 
of   the  American    Republic,  bounded    by  British 
America,   the    Atlantic,   Florida   and 
America.         the  Mississippi  River  from  its  source 

to  the  Spanish  possessions  south. 
West  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Rocky  Mount- 
ains, all  south  of  British  America  to  Texas,  was 
Louisiana  territory,  mostly  wilderness  and  all 
held  by  Spain.  This  now  includes  several  great 
States. 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     Ill 

North  of  the  Ohio  River  all  was  wilderness 
except  a  few  very  small  settlements.  Chicago  did 
not  exist.  Pittsburg  was  a  small  frontier  outpost. 
No  State  existed  west  of  Pennsylvania. 

In  1789  Virginia,  Massachusetts  and  Pennsyl- 
vania were  the  great  States.  North  Carolina  and 
New  York  ranked  next.  Philadelphia  was  a  larger 
city  than  New  York. 

The  States  were  loosely  held  together  ;  each 
had  its  own  separate  custom's  tariff ;  each  was 
almost  independent  of  the  others ;  great  evils 
came  from  the  commercial  competition  ;  the  old 
Congress  owed  eight  million  dollars  abroad  —  a 
great  sum  in  those  days  ;  it  had  a  great  debt  at 
home.  The  army  was  unpaid  ;  the  Treasury  was 
empty  ;  the  paper  currency  was  worthless.  Each 
State,  too,  was  in  debt  ;  Congress  had  no  power 
to  raise  money ;  it  could  not  compel  the  States  to 
levy  taxes,  or  to  pay  their  shares  of  the  public 
debt,  or  of  current  expenses. 

Revenue  is  a  first  necessity  of  a  nation. 

Great  interests  were  clashing  and  eagerly 
debated. 

Should  the  tonnage  tax  be  higher  on  foreign  than 
on  American  vessels  ?  Producers  of  raw  material 
objected.     Madison  favored  the  affirmative. 

Should  the  tonnage  tax  be  lighter  on  our  allies  by 
commercial  treaties  than  on  other  nations  }  "  No," 
.said  Sherman,  Benson  and  others,  "let  trade  fol- 
low its  natural  course." 


[12  THE    WORLDS    GKl-ATL.  7    CONFLICT. 

Congress  asked  the  States  to  grant  it  power  to 
put  a  five  per  cent,  duty  on  imported  foreign 
goods,  in  order  to  pay  the  public  debt.  Several 
of  the  States  assented.  Rhode  Island  and  New 
York  refused.  They  wished  to  control  their  own 
duties  on  imports  as  they  were  doing. 

The  public  debt  was  at  a  great  discount  ;  poor 
soldiers  of  the  Revolution  sold  their  pay  certifi- 
cates very  low ;  the  public  faith  was  dishonored  ; 
there  was  most  urgent  need  of  power  in  Congress 
to  raise  a  national  revenue  ;  excessive  importa- 
tions* ruined  the  domestic  manufactures  which 
had  begun  during  the  war. 

Could  a  revenue  and  protective  duty  have  been 
laid  on  imports  it  would  have  relieved  the  public 
credit,  and  might  have  protected  private  credit,  of 
which  these  light-taxed  and  free  importations 
completed  the  ruin. 

With  a  proper  protective  tariff  the  worthless 
currency  could  have  been  made  sound,  domestic 
industry  encouraged,  and  some  of  the  specie  re- 
tained in  the  country.  Without  such  protection 
great  distress  existed  ;  the  specie  went  abroad. 

To  add  to  the  distress  Great  Britain  shut  its 
West  India  ports  against  United  States  vessels  ; 
and  still  further,  England  imposed  enormous  tariff 
duties  on  the  most  valuable  American  exports. 

Congress  had  no  power  to  remedy  the  bad  con- 

»In   1784-85   the  imports  were  $30,000,000  against  less  than  $9,000,000 
exports. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  II3 

dition.     The  States  had  not  delegated  it.     They 
were  thirteen  independent  sovereignties. 

Thus  the  country  was  powerless  to  preserve  its 
honor,  its  credit,  its  commerce,  its  self-respect. 

The  attempt  of  Massachusetts  to  raise  by  direct 
tax  the  money  to  pay  its  debts,  produced  "  Shay's 
Rebellion  "  of  1786,  to  suppress  which  a  military 
force  was  required. 

The  States  were  not  yet  a  united  nation. 

A  convention  was  assembled  at  Philadelphia  in 
May,  1787,  "for  the  sole  and  express  purpose  of  re- 
vising; the  Articles  of  Confederation."  It  exceeded 
instructions  and  decided  to  form  a  constitution. 

At  that  date  not  a  nation  on  earth  had  a  written, 
single-instrument  constitution. 

Great  Britain  had  Magna  Charta  and  many  acts 
of  Parliament.  Its  real  constitution  was  only  its 
whole  mass  of  laws,  precedents  and  judicial  deci- 
sions. Its  Parliament,  then  as  now,  could  make 
any  law  whatever,  and  no  constitutional  principle 
except  these  was  behind  them  to  declare  their 
powers  exceeded  and  the  act  null. 

The  Americans  founded  the  system  of  a  funda- 
mental declaration  of  principles  as  the  basis  of  all 
law,  any  violation  of  which,  by  Congress  or  legis- 
lature, to  be  declared  null  and  void,  by  an  inde- 
pendent judiciary  on  application  of  any  citizen. 
Thus  the  powers  of  the  government  were  at  once 
firmly  restricted  within  defined  limits.  Thus  Con- 
gress can  make  only  such   laws  as  are  authorized 


114  THE    WORLDS    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

by  the  Constitution.  This  system  is  the  great 
governmental  invention  of  the  modern  ages. 

In  the  Convention  of  1786,  one  party  supported 
the  plan  of  a  congress  of  but  one  House,  in  which 
each  State  should  be  represented  in  proportion  to 
its  population.  Another  party  urged  that  every 
State,  large  or  small,  should  have  the  same  equal 
representation.  The  former  became  the  Federal- 
ist, the  latter  the  Anti-Federalist  party. 

The  debates  were  chiefly  on  representation  and 
on  the  power  of  Congress  to  coerce  States. 

An  agreement  was  made  on  a  House,  elected  on 
the  basis  of  population,  two  fifths  of  the  slaves  to 
be  counted  in  the  apportionment  of  representa- 
tives ;  and  a  Senate  in  which  each  State  has  but 
two  senators. 

The  executive  (a  president),  the  judiciary  and  the 
legislative  branches  are  independent  of  one  another 
and  not  to  infringe  on  one  another's  duties. 

This  Constitution,  of  many  provisions,  required 
the  ratification  of  State  conventions  of  nine  States 
before  it  had  effect.     It  was  ratified  as  follows  : 

Delaware,  December  7,  17S7; 

Pennsylvania,  December  12,  1787; 

New  Jersey,  December  18,  1787; 

Georgia,  January  2,  1788  ; 

Connecticut,  January  9,  1788  ; 

Massachusetts,  February  6,  1788; 

Maryland,  April  28,  1788  ; 

South  Carolina,  May  23,  1788  ; 


THE    WORLDS    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  11$ 

New  Hampshire,  June  21,  1788;  and  from  this 
ninth  ratification  dates  the  adoption  of  the  Consti- 
tution.* Virginia  followed  four  days  later  and  New 
York  on  July  26,  1788  ;  North  Carolina,  November 
21,  1789,  and  Rhode  Island  May  29,  1790. 

George  Washington  was  unanimously  elected 
President  by  eleven  States  ;  the  others  did  not 
vote.  He  was  inaugurated  April  30,  1789.  John 
Adams  was  chosen  Vice-President  by  plurality 
only  ;  thirty-five  out  of  sixty-nine  votes.  Adams 
was  accused  of  holding  monarchial  preferences, 
but  he  denied  it. 

Two  parties  e.xisted.  The  Federalists,  headed 
by  Washington,  John  Adams  and  Alexander 
Hamilton,  were  favorably  inclined  to  a  strong,  cen- 
tralized government  ;  the  Anti-Federalists,  after- 
wards called  Republicans,  headed  by  Thomas 
Jefferson,  advocated  strong  reserve  powers  in  the 
individual  States,  and  in  the  people,  and  that  all 
powers  not  expressly  granted  to  the  general  gov- 
ernment in  plain  terms,  are  retained  in  the  State 
or  in  the  people. 

The  Federalists  generally  sympathized  with  the 
English,  the  Rc|)ublicans  with  the  French. 

Departments  of  State,  Treasury  and  War  were 
created.  Thomas  Jefferson  became  Secretary  of 
State  ;  Alexander  Hamilton,  of  the  Treasury  ; 
Henry  Knox,  of  War,  and  Edmund  Randolph, 
Attorney-General. 

•  Goodrich,  p.  241. 


ii6       TiiK  world's  greatest  conflict. 

A  Supreme  Court  was  organized,  with  John  Jay 
as  Chief  Justice. 

Virginia  ratified  the  Constitution  with  the 
declaration  that  she  was  at  liberty  to  withdraw 
from  the  Union  whenever  its  powers  were  used 
for  oppression  ;  and  New  York,  after  Hamilton 
had  declared  that  no  State  could  ever  be  coerced 
by  an  armed  force. 

The  very  first  Fourth  of  July  under  our  Consti- 
tution was  signalized  by  the  first  law  of  our  new 
government,  except  one  which  established  the 
official  oaths  required  to  start  the  government 
itself.  The  Tariff  Act  of  July  4,  1789,  of  both 
specific  and  ad  valorem  duties,  was  passed  on 
Washington's  recommendation,  in  his  very  first 
message,  that  "  the  safety  and  interest  of  the 
people "  required  it.  Southern  representatives 
gave  twenty-one  votes  for  and  three  against  it  ; 
the  Middle  States  thirteen  for  to  one  against  ; 
New  England  five  for  to  nine  against ;  total,  thirty- 
nine  for  to  thirteen  against.  Thus  the  almost 
solid  South  and  Middle  States  passed  it  against 
almost  two  thirds  of  the  New  England  vote. 

At  the  second  session  of  the  first  Congress  the 
Tariff  of  1790  was  enacted. 

After  much  discussion.  Congress  decided  that 
the  President  can  remove  officers  without  consent 
of  the  Senate.* 

In    1790  ended   the  war  between    Georgia  and 

*  Goodrich,  p.  24. 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     II/ 

the  Creek  Indians.  General  Harmer  was  se- 
verely defeated  in  two  battles  in  Ohio  with  the 
Indians. 

On  November  3,  1791,  the  Indians  there  gave  a 
bloody  defeat  to  another  force  of  about  fourteen 
hundred  men  under  the  veteran  General  St.  Clair, 
of  whom  eight  hundred  and  ninety  were  killed, 
wounded  or  missing.*  The  numbers  engaged  on 
each  side  were  supposed  to  be  about  equal. 

Congress,  resolved  to  continue  the  Indian  war, 
voted  to  raise  the  regular  army  to  five  thousand 
men.  This  law  to  raise  three  more  regiments  of 
regulars  was  carried  against  the  warm  opposition 
of  the  Anti-Federalists,  who  charged  that  it  was 
in  aid  of  monarchial  designs. 

Congress  ordered  Hamilton  to  prepare  a  plan  of 
finance.     He  reported  it  to  Congress  in  1790. 

He  advised  that  the  nation  should  provide  to 
pay  its  foreign  and  its  domestic  debts,  and  the 
war  debts  of  the  several  States,  and  for  that  pur- 
pose to  lay  a  tax  on  luxuries  and  spirits. 

All  favored  paying  the  foreign  debt.  Many 
opposed  assuming  the  domestic  debt  ;  they  feared 
the  influence  of  a  national  debt  to  consolidate 
the  government.  These  were  mostly  Southern 
Republicans. 

The  I'^edcralists  urged  the  assumption  by  the 
nation  of  the  State  debts  of  twenty-six  million  dol- 
lars  in   addition  to  the  old   Confederation  debt  of 

•Halt's  U.  S.,p.  no. 


ii8        Tin:  world's  greatest  conflict. 

fifty-four  million  dollars.  Much  of  the  old  debt 
had  been  sold  to  speculators  at  low  prices,  some 
as  low  as  fifteen  per  cent,  and  mostly  in  the  Middle 
and  Northern  States.  Some  argued  that  Govern- 
ment should  pay  only  the  market  price.  Should 
the  present  holder  have  the  full  amount  or  only 
the  current  price  } 

Some  proposed  to  divide  the  difference  between 
the  original  holder  and  the  speculative  purchaser. 
Madison  proposed  in  Congress  to  pay  the  market 
price  to  the  present  holder  and  the  balance  to  the 
original  owner.  Congress  rejected  the  proposal 
by  a  large  majority. 

Hamilton  insisted  on  paying  the  full  face  value. 

Federalists  urged  that  the  debt  was  made  in  the 
common  cause  ;  that  States,  then  most  active  for 
the  benefit  of  all,  should  not  now  be  made  to  bear 
the  burden  of  all ;  that  States  had  transferred  to  the 
general  Government  their  principal  sources  of  reve- 
nue, and  the  debts  should  follow.  The  House  by  a 
small  majority  refused. 

Then  originated  American  "log-rolling."  Vir- 
ginians wanted  the  capital  moved  from  Philadel- 
phia to  the  Potomac.  Jefferson  and  Hamilton 
traded.  They  yoked  the  two  measures  together. 
The  Virginia  Senators,  White  and  Lee,  changed 
their  votes.  They  now  voted  to  assume  the  debts. 
Hamilton  and  Robert  Morris  sold  themselves  to 
the  Potomac  plan.  Both  measures  were  thus,  sep- 
arately, barely  carried  by  small  majorities,  by  this 


THE    WORLDS    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  II9 

corrupt  bargain.  The  capital  was  to  be  moved  in 
ten  years. 

The  debts  were  funded  at  interest.  Govern- 
ment paper  soon  rose  from  fifteen  per  cent,  to 
above  par.  This  gave  sudden  wealth  to  the  spec- 
ulators who  had  bought  it  at  low  prices.  This 
again  excited  dissatisfaction. 

Hamilton  advised  to  charter  a  national  bank. 
Again  the  South  opposed.  They  feared  a  national 
bank  as  a  great  monied  institution  that  might  hold 
too  much  power  and  influence.  They  denied  the 
power  of  Congress  to  create  it. 

The  Federalists  replied  that  the  power  given  by 
the  Constitution  to  Congress  to  regulate  com- 
merce, collect  taxes,  borrow  money  and  pay  debts 
included  this  power  as  incident. 

But  three  banks  existed  in  America.  More 
bank  facilities,  it  was  said,  were  needed. 

The  debate  was  long  and  earnest.  Congress 
passed  the  bill  to  charter  a  national  bank  in  i/gr, 
to  expire  in  1811,  with  ten  million  dollars  capital, 
one  quarter  to  be  paid  in  coin,  and  three  quar- 
ters in  six  per  cent,  national  debt  certificates. 
The  Government  was  to  own  one  fifth  of  the 
stock. 

Washington  asked  the  advice  of  his  cabinet. 
Jefferson  and  Randolph  denied,  Hamilton  and 
Knox  affirmed  the  constitutionality  of  the  bill. 
Then  Washington  signed  it. 

Again  the  newly  funded  debt  aided  the  specula- 


120  THE    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 


tors  who  had  bought  it.     It  was  used  as  capital 
for  this  great,  privileged  bank. 

Jefferson  wrote,  August  25,  1791  : 

"  Ships  are  lying  idle  at  the  wharves  ;  buildings 
are  stopped  ;  capital  withdrawn  from  commerce, 
manufactures,  arts  and  agriculture,  to  be  employed 
in  gambling,  and  the  tide  of  prosperity  almost 
unparalleled  in  any  country,  is  arrested  in  its 
course  and  suppressed  by  the  rage  of  getting 
rich  in  a  day." 

This  active  speculation  had  been  stimulated  by 
Hamilton's  Federalists'  legislation.  Nothing  yet 
seemed  to  be  done  for  industry.  But  Hamilton 
was  an  aristocrat.  Yet  he  produced  a  better 
measure.  It  was  his  tariff  bill  which  was  passed 
in  February,  1792.  It  exempted  from  duty  raw 
material  for  manufactures. 

Internal  revenue  taxes,  including  tax  on  spirits, 
were  created  in  1791. 

In  1 791  Vermont  adopted  the  national  Consti- 
tution and  asked  to  be  admitted  as  a  State.  In 
1776  it  had  no  government.  It  was  variously 
claimed  by  New  York,  New  Hampshire  and 
Massachusetts.  It  resisted  these  claims.  It  was 
not  one  of  the  original,  united  thirteen  colonies. 
It  should  have  been  considered  as  the  fourteenth 
colony.  It  aided  in  the  struggle  for  American  in- 
dependence. It  fought  the  British.  It  became 
the  fourteenth  State,  March  4,  1791. 

Vermont  was  a  free  State,  so  the  slave  power 


THE  WORLDS  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     121 

required  that  Kentucky  be  admitted  a  slave  State, 
to  balance  Vermont.     This  was  done  June  i,  1792. 

In  1 791  Congress  decided  not  to  admit  members 
of  the  cabinet  to  take  part  in  Congress.* 

The  census  taken  in  1791  showed  3,921,326 
persons,  of  whom  695,655  were  slaves.  The  reve- 
nue was  $4,771,000;  exports  about  519,000,000; 
imports  about  $20,ooo,ooo.t 

Great  Britain  still  held  that  colonial  trade  was  all 
her  own.  She  prohibited  Americans  from  trading 
with  British  colonies.  She  would  admit  American 
produce  only  in  the  vessels  of  the  State  that  pro- 
duced it  or  in  British  vessels.  This  threw  the 
trade  of  those  States  that  had  little  or  no  ship- 
ping, into  British  vessels,  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
vessels  of  other  States. 

Still  our  exports  were  five  times  and  our  imports 
nine  times  larger  with  Britain  than  with  France.  J 

Since  the  treaty  of  1783  America  and  England 
had  constantly  accused  each  other  of  bad  faith. 
England  alleged  that  America  prevented  loyalists 
from  recovering  their  property,  and  British  from 
collecting  debts  due  before  the  Revolution. 

The  Americans  complained  that  British  troops 
carried  away  .slaves,  for  whom  the  owners  wanted 
pay;  that  the  British  still  refused  to  give  up, 
according  to  the  treaty,  the  American  frontier 
posts,  but  by  holding  them  controlled  American 

•RandAlI'd  Life  of  Jcflfcreon,  Vol.  H.  p.  103.  t  Hale,  p.  no. 

t  Jeffcraon's  Report,  December  2 S,  1791. 


122  THE    WORLDS    GKKATEST    CONFLICT. 

Indians  and  incited  them  against  the  American 
settlers. 

Recent  depredations  on  American  commerce  — 
impressment  of  American  seamen  by  the  British 
navy — added  greatly  to  the  animosity. 

England  refused  commercial  negotiations  and 
declined  to  exchange  ministers.  But  at  last,  in 
October,  1791,  a  minister  —  Mr.  Hammond  — 
came.  He  defended  England's  course  by  urging 
that  the  individual  States  had  not  repealed  their 
war  confiscation  laws,  but  had  passed  new  ones; 
had  made  property  and  paper  money  a  legal 
tender  to  British  creditors. 

Mr,  Jefferson,  Secretary  of  State,  replied  that 
the  British  negotiators  of  1783  knew  beforehand 
that  Congress  could  not  repeal  State  laws  ;  that 
the  British  carried  off  negro  slaves  in  violation 
of  the  treaty  "on  the  fulfillment  of  which  de- 
pended the  means  of  paying  debts  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  laborers  withdrawn,"  and  that 
the  State  legislation  was  retaliatory  for  prior  Brit- 
ish infractions ;  that  England  continued  to  hold 
the  frontier  forts  which  made  the  expense  of 
Indian  wars  and  cut  off  our  Indian  trade. 

The  hopes,  fears  and  passions  of  American 
politics  were  inextricably  influenced  by  those  of 
England  and  France. 

In  many  American  minds  England  was  asso- 
ciated with  Indian  massacres ;  the  horrors  of 
prison   ships  ;  the  miseries  of  seven  years  of  war; 


THE  WORLDS  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     123 

commercial  restrictions,  and  George  the  Third's 
odious  personality. 

France  was  in  revolution.  It  was  ruled  by  vio- 
lent oligarchy.  It  was  not  a  democracy,  for 
democracy  is  "  rule  of  the  people,  by  the  people, 
for  the  people,"  and  it  was  but  few  who  ruled 
F' ranee.  It  was  not  a  republic,  for  in  a  republic 
the  people  freely  choose  their  law-makers  and 
rulers,  and  the  French  did  not  freely  choose  Dan- 
ton  and  Robespierre.  Those  villains  were  no 
more  real  republicans  or  actual  democrats  than 
they  were  monarchists  :  less  so  ;  for  they  ruled 
with  the  power  of  dictators. 

The  sympathy  of  Americans  was  for  their  re- 
cent friends,  the  French,  as  against  their  recent 
enemy,  George  the  Third  ;  for  those  struggling 
for  the  hope  of  republican  democracy  yet  to  come 
in  France. 

Toward  France  was  lively  gratitude  for  help 
in  time  of  urgent  need  ;  a  warm,  friendly  desire 
to  reciprocate  the  great  favor  ;  a  general,  fervent 
wish  for  French  free,  liberal,  republican  govern- 
ment ;  the  hope  that  French  revolutionary  ex- 
cesses would  cease,  and  mild,  good  government 
yet  come.  Secretary  Jefferson  wrote,  in  August, 
1791,  "I  still  hope  the  French  Revolution  will 
issue  happily.  I  feel  that  the  permanence  of  our 
own  leans,  in  some  degree,  on  that,  and  that  fail- 
ure there  would  be  a  powerful  argument  to  prove 
that  there  must  be  a  failure  here." 


124       '^^^'^  world's  greatest  conflict. 

These  feelings  were  especially  strong  among 
the  Anti-Federalists.  Shocked  by  the  horrors, 
the  unbridled  license,  the  lack  of  real  republican 
democracy  in  France,  the  Federalists  were  less 
friendly  to  its  sham  democracy,  less  tolerant  of 
bloody,  arbitrary  tyrants,  who  took  the  sacred 
name  of  Liberty  and  blasphemed  it. 

News  of  the  decisive  defeat  of  the  royalists  by 
the  French  troops  at  Valmy,  September  20,  1792, 
caused  enthusiastic  delight  in  America,  and 
Americans  addressed  each  other  as  "  Citizen." 

The  election  of  November,  1792,  gave  the 
unanimous  electoral  vote  to  Washington  for  a 
second  term  of  four  years. 

Adams  was  accused  of  desiring  to  have  an  aris- 
tocracy, and  of  favoring  the  new  finance  laws. 
George  Clinton,  ex-Governor  of  New  York,  favored 
the  supremacy  of  the  individual  States  over  the 
general  government ;  he  had  opposed  the  adop- 
tion   of    the    Constitution    and    the    new    finance 

system. 

For  Vice-President,  Adams  had  seventy-seven 
votes,  Clinton  fifty,  Jefferson  four,  Burr  one. 

An  eminent  British  authority  says,  "In  1793, 
the  ministry  of  Pitt,  without  any  real  cause,  de- 
clared war  against  the  French  republic,  in  spite 
of  the  opposition  of  Fox  and  Sheridan."* 

Both  British  and  French  authors  are  generally 
very  obscure  in  assigning  causes  for  this  needless 

*  Chambers's  Cyc'.opi-dia,  Article  on  Great  Britain. 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     125 

war,  began  by  George  the  Third,  Pitt,  and  the 
French  Convention.  It  was  to  continue  till  the 
middle  of  1815 — twenty-two  long  years  —  except 
the  intervals  from  March  27,  1802,  to  May  24, 
1803,  and  again  from  April  6,  18 14,  to  March  i, 
1815. 

The  exciting  news  of  this  war  reached  America 
in  April,  1793.  Americans  friendly  to  France 
prepared  to  send  out  privateers  against  English 
commerce. 

Washington  was  resolved  on  neutrality.  He 
issued  a  proclamation  April  22,  1793,  warning 
Americans  against  carrying  contraband,  and  all 
acts  contrary  to  impartial,  friendly  conduct  towards 
both  belligerents. 

The  Republicans  violently  assailed  this  act  of 
Washington  as  an  illegal  "royal  edict"  unworthy 
our  gratitude  to  our  late  allies,  the  French. 

Bitter  vituperation  in  politics  was  the  fashion 
of  that  day,  and  its  venomous  invective  was  not 
spared  against  Washington. 

The  war  between  England  and  France,  in  which 
Holland  and  Spain  and  other  powers  soon  joined, 
put  the  ocean  trade  of  Europe  largely  into  the 
vessels  of  neutral  America.  This  trade  was  very 
profitable  to  Americans.  In  1793  a  French  de- 
cree opened  the  French  home  and  West  India 
ports  to  American  vessels  free  as  those  of  France.* 
This  benefited  Americans. 

•Jefferson's  Life  by  Randall,  Vul.  M.  p.  iji. 


126  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

Americans  now  took  most  of  the  rich  West 
India  trade  and  had  the  richest  commerce  in  the 
world  except  that  of  Great  Britain.  French, 
Spanish,  Dutch,  even  English,  found  it  safer  to 
entrust  the  carriage  of  their  goods  to  the  neutral 
American  vessels,  to  escape  capture  by  the  priva- 
teers of  their  enemies  who  were  supposed  to 
respect  the  neutral  flag.  Even  before  this  war, 
England  and  America  had  nearly  all  the  ocean 
China  trade. 


XXXI. 

IN  April,  1793,  Citizen  Genet  came  to  represent 
France.     He  landed  at  Charleston,  where  he 
was  received  with  rapturous  admiration.     He  be- 
lieved that  all  Americans  were,  like 
Genet.  thcsc  Southemcrs,  wild  with  enthusi- 

asm for  the  French  Revolution.  Be- 
fore he  had  reported  to  the  American  government 
as  envoy,  or  been  officially  recognized,  he  issued 
at  Charleston  commissions  to  two  privateers 
against  British  commerce. 

On  his  journey  from  Charleston  to  Philadelphia, 
Genet  received  extravagant  attentions.  Crowds 
flocked  to  meet  him.  He  persisted  in  schemes 
likely  to  involve  America  in  war  with  England 
and  .Spain. 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     12/ 

Washington  refused  to  permit  such  violations 
of  neutrality.  Americans  were  excited.  The  two 
parties  took  sides  for  and  against  Genet. 

A  French  ship  captured  an  English  vessel 
in  American  waters.  Washington  required  Genet 
to  restore  the  vessel.  The  popular  agitation  grew 
wilder. 

Genet,  very  angry,  threatened  to  appeal  from 
President  Washington  to  the  people ;  a  means 
which  other  French  revolutionary  agents  had  used 
with  success  in  Europe.  He  expected  the  warm 
friendship  of  Americans  for  France  to  overrule 
the  wise  measures  of  Washington. 

But  his  insolence  and  the  recent  atrocities  of 
the  ruling  minority  in  France  alienated  many 
Americans;  origin,  language,  religion,  literature, 
manners,  and  many  customs  akin,  drew  them  to- 
ward friendship  with  the  English.  They  remem- 
bered that  even  in  the  late  war  many  of  the  real 
British  people  were  friends  to  America  ;  that  not 
all  English  were  partakers  in  the  crimes  of  George 
the  Third.  These  Americans,  mostly  Federalists 
and  mostly  Northerners,  approved  of  Washington's 
measures. 

The  Federalist  majority  in  Congress  passed  a 
neutrality  act. 

Republicans  charged  Washington  and  the  Fed- 
eralists with  hostility  to  "free  principles,"  and 
attachment  to  England.  The  Federalists  charged 
the  Republicans  with  contempt  of  law  and  order 


128        Tiiiv  world's  greatest  conflict. 

and  subserviency  to  France.  At  Washington's 
request,  France  annulled  the  powers  of  Genet. 

Jefferson  reported  to  Congress  that  American 
exports  were  mostly  raw  material,  nearly  one  half 
of  which  go  to  Britain  and  its  countries  ;  that  im- 
ports were  mostly  manufactures,  four  fifths  of 
which  come  from  there  ;  that  some  of  those  coun- 
tries exacted  heavy  duties  on  American  articles 
and  prohibited  some  of  them  ;  that  England's 
corn  laws,  navigation  act  and  colonial  system 
restricted  American  commerce,  while  England 
had  superior  privileges  in  the  United  States ; 
that  not  one  sixth  of  our  shipping  was  in  this 
trade. 

He  advised  an  amicable  effort  to  remove  these 
unequal  restrictions  against  America,  and  if  that 
should  fail,  to  lay  the  same  counter-restrictions. 

Madison  offered  resolutions  that  higher  duties 
be  laid  on  goods  and  vessels  of  nations  with 
whom  America  had  no  commercial  treaties,  from 
which  losses  of  its  citizens  by  the  restrictions  of 
such  countries  should  be  paid.  America  had  such 
a  treaty  with  France,  but  none  with  England. 
Then  it  was  that  news  came  that  the  English 
ministry  had  announced  it  lawful  to  capture  any 
neutral  vessels  bound  to  France  with  grain  or 
flour. 

A  British  "Order  in  Council"  of  June,  1793, 
declared  as  a  good  prize  any  vessel  carrying  corn 
to  France.     Under  this  hostile  order  many  Amer- 


THE    WORLDS    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  1 29 

ican  vessels  were  captured  by  British  cruisers. 
America  was  indignant. 

A  long  and  sometimes  bitter  debate  followed. 
Jefferson  Republicans  argued  that  America's  great 
dependence  on  the  British  for  manufactures  and 
her  debts  to  them,  were  alarming  evils  ;  that  they 
placed  the  United  States  at  their  mercy ;  and 
gave  them  great  influence  in  American  politics  ; 
that  by  refusing  English  goods,  America  was  bene- 
fited by  drawing  to  herself  such  of  their  artisans, 
whose  wages  she  really  paid,  but  who  are  not 
permitted  to  use  American  productions  ;  that  the 
United  States  ought  to  reciprocate  the  hostility 
of  England  and  the  friendship  of  France.* 

To  this  the  more  northern  and  more  commercial 
men  replied  that  the  British  make  what  we  want  ; 
they  give  credit  which  the  French  do  not  ;  they 
sell  cheaper  than  others  ;  we  gain  in  volume  of  our 
commerce;  while  in  1789  but  one  half,  now  in 
1794,  two  thirds  of  our  commerce  is  by  American 
vessels  ;  that  Virginia  owes  the  British  money  and 
supports  the  restrictive  resolutions,  while  New 
England  owes  them  little  and  opposes  restrictions, 
so  the  British  do  not  appear  to  influence  our 
politics  ;  that  although  England  injures  us  by 
holding  our  western  posts  and  inciting  Indians  to 
hostility,  yet  it  is  impolitic  to  adopt  trade  restric- 
tions that  injure  America  more  than  England.! 

•  Hale's  U.  S.,  Vol.  1 1,  p.  1 17.  f  Ibid,  p.  118. 


130  THE    WORLDS    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

Then  news  came  of  the  British  "  Order  in 
Council"  of  November,  1793,  which  authorized 
the  detention  or  capture  of  all  neutral  (therefore 
American)  vessels  laden  with  goods  from  France 
or  its  colonies,  or  carrying  provisions  or  supplies 
to  either. 

This  aroused  new  indignation.  The  House 
passed  a  Bill  prohibiting  all  trade  in  articles 
produced  or  made  in  Great  Britain  ;  the  Senate 
finding  that  Washington  wished  to  try  further 
negotiation,  rejected  the  Bill,  but  it  was  only  by 
the  casting  vote  of  Vice-President  Adams. 

To  prepare  for  war  Congress  passed  acts  to 
increase  the  regular  army,  to  organize  the  militia 
and  to  erect  fortifications. 

England  modified  its  November  order  so  as  to 
apply  only  to  vessels  bringing  produce  from 
French  Islands  direct  to  France,  and  gave  assur- 
ance that  most  of  the  American  vessels  already 
captured  would  be  released.  Thereupon  the  Fed- 
eralists opposed  anything  irritating  to  England. 


THE    WORLDS    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  UI 


XXXII. 

THE    people   east    of    the   Alleghanies    paid 
most  of    the   import  duty.     The  whiskey- 
tax  reached  those  further  west  ;  their 
membersof  Congress  bitterly  opposed     The  whiskey 
it  ;   they    said    it  was   an    excise,  an      Rebellion  of 
odious  form    of   tax,    and    an    inter-  '794- 

ference  in  local  affairs. 

In  West  Pennsylvania  officers  were  resisted. 
Five  hundred  insurgents  attacked  an  inspector 
who  was  guarded  by  a  few  soldiers.  Several  citi- 
zens were  driven  from  their  homes.  Washington 
sent  against  the  malcontents  fifteen  thousand 
militia.  This  force  was  too  large  to  be  resisted. 
Several  leaders  were  seized.  One  was  tried  and 
convicted  of  treason,  but  was  afterwards  pardoned. 

In  1794  Congress  prohibited  the  Slave  Trade 
from  American  ports.  This  is  the  first  prohibition 
by  a  nation,  of  that  wicked  trade,  although  Vir- 
ginia, Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  Pennsylvania 
and  Mas.sachusetts  abolished  their  foreign  slave 
trade  before  1789. 


I  \2  THIi    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 


XXXIII. 

A    LGERINE    corsairs    had    captured    eleven 

^^\      American  vessels  and  taken  one  hundred 

Americans  prisoners.      To  protect  our  commerce 

a  Bill   was   offered    to   construct  six 

Trouble  with         friiratCS. 

Algiers.  The  Republicans  strongly  opposed 

it,  as  beginning  a  permanent  navy, 
expensive,  and  making  payment  of  the  national 
debt  impossible.  History,  they  said,  shows  that 
all  nations  with  a  navy  are  heavily  in  debt.  The 
force  was  incompetent  ;  a  navy,  unless  large,  would 
fall  a  prey  to  the  maritime  powers.  Peace  with 
Algiers,  or  protection  by  other  powers,  could  be 
bought  with  less  money. 

Against  these  arguments  were  brought  the 
heavier  ones  that  our  commerce  was  exposed  and 
that  one  hundred  Americans  were  in  Algerine 
slavery.  These  prevailed.  The  Bill  was  passed. 
Still  the  United  States,  like  other  nations,  bought 
'^^eace  with  Algiers  by  paying  annual  tribute. 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  1 33 


XXXIV. 

GENERAL  WAYNE  defeated  the   Indians 
in  battle  near  the  Miami,  August  20,  1794. 
He  laid  waste  their  houses  and  corn- 
fields   and  erected  forts.     In   1795  a     wayne'sCam- 
treaty  with  these  Indians  permitted       paign,  1794. 
the  peaceful  settlement  of  Ohio. 

The  land  was  bought  for  a  trifling  price,  but 
far  higher  than  it  was  worth  for  mere  hunting 
purposes.  The  purchase  gave  wheat  bread  to  the 
natives,  which  was  to  them  a  valuable  change 
from  their  former  meager  diet.  So  the  sale,  in- 
stead of  impoverishing  the  Indians,  gave  them 
comparative  wealth. 


XXXV. 

WASHINGTON  sent  John  Jay  to  England 
to  negotiate.  The  treaty  made  by  Jay 
with  England  allowed  to  the  British  free  inland 
navigation  in  the  United  States  ; 
opened  American  ports  to  British  jay's  English 
vessels  ;  left  Canadian  ports  closed  to  Treaty. 

American  vessels;  bound  the  United 
States  to  guarantee  to  British  creditors  the  collec- 
tion of  such  debts  as  an  American  could  collect  ; 


134  THE    WOULo's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 


Great  Britain  to  pay  American  losses  by  former 
captures  by  British  cruisers  ;  no  private  property 
to  be  confiscated  in  wars  ;  the  United  States  to 
have  a  West  India  trade  for  two  years,  but  not  to 
carry  West  India  or  East  India  goods  to  other 
countries,  nor  rice  or  military  or  naval  stores 
without  special  permit ;  war  ships  of  either  nation 
to  be  allowed  in  the  other's  ports;  foreign  enemies 
of  either  country  not  to  arm  privateers  in  the 
other's  ports  or  to  sell  prizes  there  ;  no  reprisals 
to  be  made  against  each  other  till  demand  for 
satisfaction  is  refused  ;  rendition  of  escaping 
criminals. 

Mr.  Jay  proposed  abolition  of  privateering,  but 
the  British  minister,  Grenville,  refused. 

This  treaty,  so  favorable  to  England,  so  inviting 
it  to  future  aggression  on  America,  by  barring 
retaliatory  penalties,  met  with  great  opposition. 

Republicans  vehemently  opposed  it  ;  so  did 
others.  By  public  meetings,  resolutions,  remon- 
strances, they  denounced  it.  They  alleged  that  it 
favored  England  ;  was  not  favorable  to  France  ; 
was  for  the  benefit  of  the  North  ;  failed  to  secure 
pay  for  slaves  who  fled  with  the  British  army  ;  did 
not  allow  Americans  to  have  a  permanent  trade  to 
the  British  West  Indies  ;  did  not  provide  against 
the  impressment  of  American  seamen  by  the 
British  ;  they  declared  that  it  acknowledged  naval 
stores  to  be  contraband,  while  France  did  not ; 
that  it  rejected  the  great  idea  held  by  America, 


THE    WORLDS    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  1 35 

Russia,  Denmark,  and  admitted  by  France,  that 
an  enemy's  goods  were  not  liable  to  capture  in 
vessels  of  neutrals.  Some  of  these  were,  indeed, 
very  grave  objections. 

As  the  news  of  its  terms  became  public,  the 
people  from  Boston  to  South  Carolina  received  it 
with  a  storm  of  execration.  All  Republicans  and 
many  Federalists  censured  it.  Now  they  charged 
that  it  exceeded  the  treaty-making  power. 

The  treaty  entirely  satisfied  nobody.  Washing- 
ton had  "several  objections"  to  it.  By  his  influ- 
ence however  the  Senate  ratified  it  by  a  vote  of 
twenty  to  ten  ;  exactly  the  two  thirds  required  to 
ratify  a  treaty.  But  the  Senate  annulled  the 
inland  navigation  article. 

Washington  believed  it  was  best  to  ratify  it,  as 
these  were  the  best  terms  obtainable.  He  signed 
it,  August  14,  1795,  in  the  face  of  the  popular 
clamor. 

The  first  treaty  ever  made  by  the  United  States 
was  that  of  1778  with  France,  in  which  France 
made  the  then  vast  concession  to  the  United 
States  that  from  a  neutral  vessel,  no  cruiser  can 
seize  any  goods  belonging  to  enemies  of  the 
cruiser's  nation. 

HIngland  still  refused  this  exemption  from  its 
practice  which  France  had  freely  accorded. 

France  was  offended  by  this  Jay  treaty.  France 
now  revived  old  treaty  restrictions  on  American 
commerce. 


136  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

England  had  not  rescinded,  but  renewed  its 
order  to  seize  provisions  going  to  French  ports. 

England  still  impressed  American  seamen  to 
serve  an  indefinite  time  in  the  British  navy.  A 
British  frigate  boarded  an  American  vessel  between 
New  York  and  Newport  in  an  attempt  to  seize 
the  French  minister.  The  minister  escaped,  but 
the  British  took  away  his  papers. 

The  House,  sixty-two  to  thirty-seven,  demanded 
the  instructions  given  to  Jay.  Washington  refused. 
In  1796,  he  laid  the  treaty  before  the  House.  Here 
it  had  many  enemies.  A  long  debate  followed  ;  its 
friends,  including  Washington,  claimed  that  it  was 
now  law  complete  and  binding. 

The  opposition  Republicans  insisted  that  a 
treaty  which  requires  appropriation  of  money  or 
any  act  of  Congress  to  give  it  effect  is  not  valid 
till  the  House  has  acted  on  it;  that  the  House 
might  make  or  withhold  action  without  breaking 
faith. 

The  House  voted,  fifty-seven  to  thirty-five,  that 
the  House  has  a  right  to  consider  the  expediency 
of  giving  effect  to  treaties  on  subjects  committed 
by  the  Constitution  to  Congress.  As  this  treaty 
required  money,  the  House  voted  by  two  majority, 
that  it  is  expedient  to  make  the  appropriation. 

The  Republican  members  retired  from  Wash- 
ington's cabinet.  By  Jefferson's  party  Washing- 
ton was  assailed  with  clamor  and  abuse. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  1 37 


XXXVI. 

SPAIN  feared  that  the  spirit  of  American  liberty 
might  be  carried  into  its  great  American 
possessions.     During  negotiations  for   American 
independence  it  had  tried  secretly  to 
have  the  western    boundary    of    the      The  position 
United  States  fixed  several  hundred        of  Spain, 
miles  east  of  the  Mississippi.     Now 
it  refused  to  make  a  trade  treaty  or  join  in  a  plan 
for  the  mutual  use  of  that  river  ;  it  denied  access 
to  the  sea,  in  the  hope  that  Kentucky  would  come 
into  Spanish  possession  to  gain  that  route.     The 
Kentuckians  were  enraged. 

War  existed  between  France  and  Spain.  Genet, 
in  1794,  prepared  in  Kentucky  to  seize  Louisiana. 
Spain  was  alarmed.  In  October,  1795,  a  treaty 
was  made  which  gave  to  Americans  the  free  use 
of  that  river  to  the  Gulf,  and  the  right  to  deposit 
goods  at  New  Orleans. 


I  T,8  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 


XXXVII. 

IN  September,  1796,  Washington  issued  his  fare- 
well address,  which  is  still  wise  counsel  against 
disunion,  sectional  dislikes,  party  spirit,  and  inter- 
national favoritism. 
Washington's         The  gcucral  election  of  November, 

Farewell.  1 796,  gavc  Johu  Adams  seventy-one 
and  Thomas  Jefferson  sixty-eight  elec- 
toral votes.  The  Constitution  then  required  that 
the  one  having  the  highest  number  be  President, 
and  the  one  with  the  next  highest  number,  Vice- 
President.  Adams  and  Jefferson  were  inaugurated 
March  4,  1 797. 

F" ranee  claimed  that  the  treaty  of  1778  granted 
to  her  all  that  could  be  acquired  by  any  other 
power,  and  ordered  its  cruisers  to  treat  neutrals 
as  neutrals  permitted  England  to  treat  them,  to 
seize  British  property  on  American  vessels,  and 
all  food  supply  going  to  England. 

France  had  hoped  for  the  election  of  its  friend 
Jefferson,  as  President.  Washington  had  sent 
Mr.  Pinckney  to  Paris  and  recalled  James  Monroe 
a  well-known  friend  to  the  French.  Now  France 
refused  to  receive  a  new  minister  from  the  United 
States  until  "  reparation  of  grievances,"  and  com- 
pelled Pinckney  to  leave  France. 

Under  the  excitement  of  this  situation  President 


THE    WORLDS    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  1 39 

Adams  called  Congress  in  special  session,  May  15, 
1797.  He  urged  it  to  create  a  navy,  to  fortify 
harbors,  to  permit  merchant  ships  to  arm  for  self- 
defense,  and  to  prepare  the  militia ;  he  spoke  with 
severity  of  the  injuries  done  by  France. 

Congress  responded  with  money  for  several 
frigates  and  forts  and  for  the  services  of  eighty 
thousand  militia ;  but  it  refused  to  make  a  regular 
army,  or  to  permit  private  ships  to  arm  except 
in  East  Indian  and  Mediterranean  trade,  where 
pirates  were  plenty.  This  permission  to  arm  was 
given  in  1798. 

In  May,  1797,  the  frigate  United  States  was 
launched.  It  was  the  only  American  frigate.  We 
had  not  a  single  ship  of  the  line !  Jefferson's  Repub- 
lican party,  ruled  by  agriculturists,  was  bitterly 
opposed  to  having  a  navy. 

The  French  directory  was  arbitrary.  It  confis- 
cated many  American  vessels  charged  with  having 
British  property  on  board  ;  it  went  further  and 
seized  others  for  lack  of  usual  "  sea-letters  "  and 
signed  lists  of  seamen,  neither  of  which  our  ships 
ever  carried,  so  this  was  pure,  intentional  outrage 
on  us. 

Adams  sent  an  extraordinary  mission  —  three 
envoys  —  to  France.  They  found  it  difficult  to  get 
an  interview  with  Talleyrand,  the  French  minister 
of  foreign  affairs,  but  they  were  met  and  beguiled 
by  irresponsible  servants  of  the  Directory,  who  in- 
sisted that  they  should  make  a  gift  of  fifty  thousand 


140  THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

dollars  to  Talleyrand  or  the  Directory,  and  furnish 
a  large  loan  as  a  condition  that  captures  of  Ameri- 
can vessels  should  be  stopped.  Our  envoys  had 
the  weakness  to  permit  this  absurd  talk  through 
several  conversations,  and  the  indiscretion  to  send 
home  detailed  reports  of  it,  which  in  the  highly 
inflamed  state  of  the  public  mind  could  not  fail  to 
do  great  harm.  It  caused  a  fierce  burst  of  indig- 
nation throughout  America.  Jefferson's  party  in- 
stantly became  a  smaller  minority  than  before. 

Most  Southern  slaveholders  were  violent  French 
Democrats  ;  yet  they  bought  and  sold  human  beings 
and  lived  from  forced  labor.  They  denounced 
well-to-do  Northerners  as  aristocrats.  But,  as  the 
war-cloud  gathered,  even  some  of  these  slavery 
Republicans  were  either  silenced  or,  for  a  time, 
joined  in  the  outcry  against  France.  In  and  out 
of  Congress  the  war  spirit  blazed.  Congress 
authorized  the  President  to  increase  the  miniature 
navy,  to  use  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars 
for  harbor  fortifications,  eight  hundred  thousand 
dollars  for  arms,  to  seize  armed  aggressive  vessels, 
and  to  enlist  ten  thousand  soldiers  in  case  of  war 
or  threatened  invasion. 

It  was  a  strange,  infatuated  spirit  of  Americans 
of  those  times  to  seek  redress  by  the  suicidal 
policy  of  laying  destructive  embargoes  on  our 
own  commerce;  a  policy  far  more  ruinous  to  us 
than  all  our  grievances  from  France  and  England. 
In   this   insane    spirit    Congress    empowered    the 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     I4I 

President  to  suspend  our  own  great  commerce 
with  French  countries,  the  effect  of  which  was  to 
throw  away  our  valuable  trade  with  French  West 
Indies,  Holland  and  Italy,  as  well  as  with  France; 
a  heavy  blow  to  America  for  a  slight  blow  to 
France. 

Congress,  in  1798,  authorized  merchant  ships  to 
resist  French  search  or  seizure,  and  to  capture 
^such  aggressors.  Treaties  with  France  were  de- 
clared annulled.  Naval  ships  and  privateers  were 
to  capture  French  armed  ships.  Twelve  regiments 
of  infantry,  two  million  dollars  of  direct  war  tax, 
and  five  million  dollars  loan  were  authorized. 


XXXVIII. 

TH  K  American  press  already  had  vast  influence. 
Newspapers  may  rule  a  reading,  intelligent 
country.     More  than   one   hundred   then  existed. 
Philadelphia    had    eight    dailies  —  as 
many  as  Napoleon  afterwards  allowed     The  American 
F" ranee ;    New   York   had  five,  Balti-       Press.   1798. 
more    two  ;    Boston    had    five    semi- 
weeklies ;   an  attempt   to  support    one   daily  had 
failed.     Publisher,   printer  and   editor   were   gen- 
erally the  same  man.     Dictionary  Noah  Webster, 
editor  of  the  leading  Federalist  paper,  the  Minerva, 
was  editor  only  ;  an  exception. 

Outside  of  New  England  most  newspaper  men 


14^  THE    WORLDS    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

were  foreigners,  especially  the  Jefferson  Repub- 
licans. Newspaper  essays  were  the  fashion. 
Ferocious  epithets  abounded  with  richest  license. 
Slander,  bitter  invective,  seemed  alike  in  Ameri- 
can and  British  press  and  in  English  diplomacy, 
to  outrun  common  sense.  Verbal  outrages  were 
extreme.  William  Cobbett  fairly  shook  parties, 
as,  when  a  libel  verdict  drove  this  English  tory 
home  he  turned  radical,  and  stirred  up  England 
against  George  the  Third's  ministry. 

Many  Americans —  the  Republican  party  —  mis- 
took the  French  Revolution  for  real  democracy  in 
which  the  real  people  must  rule.  In  France  it  was 
not  the  people,  but  violent  usurping  faction  that 
ruled.  Democracy  is  not  license.  The  moment 
the  real  people  cease  to  rule  or  one  is  permitted 
to  injure  another,  then  real  democracy  has  ceased. 

Foreign  writers  violently  denounced  the  meas- 
ures of  Adams'  administration.  They  stirred  up 
friends  of  France  and  dislikers  of  England  to  bit- 
ter, invective  opposition.  The  Federalists  majority 
in  Congress  retaliated  by  passing  the  famous  Alien 
law,  which  required  fourteen  years  residence  and 
five  years  previous  declaration  of  intentions  before 
an  alien  could  become  a  citizen.  All  aliens  must  be 
registered.  Any  alien  whom  the  President  judged 
to  be  dangerous  must  leave  the  country  or  be 
forcibly  removed.  In  case  of  war,  natives  of 
countries  hostile  to  us  might  be  secured,  removed 
or  required  to  give  security  for  good  behavior. 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     I43 

July  14,  1798,  the  "Sedition  Law"  followed,  to 
restrain  Americans  from  abuse  of  speech  and  of 
the  press,  from  defaming  Congress  or  the  Presi- 
dent, exciting  hatred  against  them,  stirring  up 
sedition,  making  unlawful  combinations  to  resist 
the  laws,  or  aiding  foreign  enemies. 

Severe  penalties  were  attached  to  violation  of 
these  two  laws. 

These  laws  contained  an  un-American  spirit  ;  a 
spirit  foreign  to  the  English  and  American  race. 
They  aroused  a  fierce  discussion.  The  Federal- 
ists had  made  a  great  mistake.  Pitt  had  an  alien 
law  in  Britain,  and  the  spirit  of  the  English  was 
against  it.  In  both  countries  the  spirit  of  liberty 
and  justice  opposed  such  laws.  The  existence  but 
non-enforcement  of  Pitt's  alien  law  helped  to  pro- 
voke renewal  of  British  war  with  France  in  1803. 
Libel  was  common  in  both  America  and  Britain. 

The  Adams  alien  law  was  never  enforced,  so 
the  Federalists  incurred  all  its  great  odium  for  no 
advantage  whatever. 

Under  the  Adams  sedition  law  were  very  few 
prosecutions.  Matthew  Lyon  of  Vermont,  a  mem- 
ber of  Congress,  Charles  Colt,  a  Connecticut  pub- 
lisher, Thomas  Cooper  and  J.  T.  Callcnder  were 
prosecuted,  convicted,  fined  and  imprisoned  for 
defamation  of  the  President.  It  was  mainly  these 
petty  affairs  in  which  a  great  free  principle  was 
outraged,  that  drove  the  P^edcralist  party  from 
power  in  1801. 


144  THE    WORLDS    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 


XXXIX. 

NOVEMBER  ID,  1798,  Kentucky's  legislature 
passed    resolutions,    written    by  Thomas 
Jefferson,  that  the  Union  is  a  compact  ;  "  that  as 
in  other  cases   of   compact    between 
Kentucky        partics  having  no  common  judge,  each 
"Nuiiifica-       party  has  equal    right    to    judge   for 
tion,"  1798.       itself,  as  well  of  infractions  as  of  the 
mode  and  measures  of  redress." 
This  principle  would  permit  any  one  State  to 
block  the  general  government.     The  national  gov- 
ernment is  itself  really  the  "  common  judge  "  be- 
tween States. 

These  resolutions  pronounced  the  Alien  and 
Sedition  acts  "  not  law,  but  altogether  void  and  of 
no  force;  "  "  that  every  State  has  a  natural  right,  in 
cases  not  within  the  compact,  to  nullify  of  their 
own  authority,  all  assumptions  of  power."  They 
asked  other  States  to  concur  and  to  take  meas- 
ures of  resistance.  Virginia  responded,  but  more 
mildly. 

Jefferson  and  his  party  were  then  strict  con- 
struers  of  the  Constitution  ;  they  denied  that  it 
gave  any  power  whatever  not  stated  in  plain  words. 
With  this  the  Federalists  took  issue.  After  Jeffer- 
son and  his  States  Rights  party  came  into  power, 
they  went  to   the   opposite  extreme   in    practice 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  1 45 

when  acquisition  of  territory  and  embargo  became 
the  great  questions,  while  Federalists,  led  by 
Josiah  Quincy,  made  the  opposite  change  by  insist- 
ins:  on  the  strict  letter  of  the  Constitution  ;  thus, 
after  1801,  came  the  strange  spectacle  of  the  two 
great  parties  exchanging  ground. 


XL. 


BETWEEN  1795  and  1805  France  sent  great 
expeditions  for  the  conquest  of  Ireland, 
ICgypt,  Syria,  Malta  and  St.  Domingo.  Every- 
where it  was  ready  to  conquer  and 
to  dictate.  Had  England  maintained  American  war 
peace  it  is  probable  that  France  with  France, 
would    have    secured   and    colonized  1798-99- 

the    immense    country,   that    is   now 
that  of  the  United  States  west  of  the  Mississippi 
River  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.     This  was  a  startling 
prospect  for  the  United  States. 

In  1796,  Barras,  head  of  the  French  Directory, 
asserted  to  James  Monroe  that  the  United  States 
owes  its  liberty  to  France,  and  efforts  were  made 
to  require  us  to  pay  tribute  to  France.  From  that 
time  forward  for  years  the  French  government 
was  not  friendly  to  the  American  republic.  The 
French  were  terrible  alike  to  friends  and  foes. 
They  continued  to  imprison  our   seamen. 

The  idea  of  war  with  France  was  distasteful  to 


146  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

Americans.  America  then  had  more  merchant 
vessels  and  more  sailors  than  any  other  nation 
except  Britain.  Much  of  the  French  carrying 
trade  was  done  by  our  vessels,  because  French 
vessels  were  a  good  prize  to  the  British  with  whom 
France  was  at  war.  During  six  months  of  1795 
British  war  ships  impressed  forty-two  American 
seamen;  the  French  decree  of  July  2,  1796,  ex- 
posed these  helpless  impressed  Americans  to  be 
hanged  if  captured  by  the  French.  In  the  West 
Indies  French  cruisers  made  prisoners  of  nine 
hundred  American  seamen,  and  the  British  gen- 
erously liberated  two  hundred  of  them  by  exchange. 
In  1797  French  cruisers  preyed  on,  and  British 
cruisers  protected,  our  West  India  vessels. 

The  embargo  forbade  clearing  of  our  vessels 
except  for  the  East  Indies  or  the  Mediterranean. 
Many  did  sail  despite  embargo. 

Holland  presented  a  sad  warning  against  reli- 
ance on  the  French  government.  Its  patriots  had 
been  friendly  to  France,  and  France  had  practi- 
cally usurped  their  government  and  held  it  till  the 
fall  of  Napoleon  in  18 14.  Spain's  experience  gave 
the  same  timely  warning. 

The  French  minister,  Talleyrand,  threatened  to 
ravage  our  coasts. 

January  18,  1798,  the  Directory  forbade  any  ves- 
sel that  had  touched  at  an  English  port  to  enter 
France,  and  declared  as  good  prize  any  vessel  with 
English    goods    or    colonial    produce   on    board. 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.      I47 

This  meant  American  vessels.  This  so  aroused 
Americans  that  citizens  quickly  subscribed  $711,- 
700  for  war  vessels. 

War  with  France  existed.  Decatur  took  the  first 
French  prize  —  a  twenty-gun  privateer.  Thirty 
thousand  muskets  were  bought.  A  French  agent 
was  arrested  in  Kentucky. 

Recruiting  an  army  was  commenced.  President 
Adams  appointed  Washington  lieutenant-general 
of  the  prospective  army.  Alexander  Hamilton 
was  second  in  command,  but  seems  to  have  been 
then  engaged  in  a  conspiracy  with  GLMieral 
Miranda,  a  South  American,  and  with  the  British 
government,  for  separating  the  Spanish  posses- 
sions from  Spain,  which  must  have  involved 
America  in  war  with  Spain  as  well  as  France. 

In  November,  1798,  the  French  corvette  Retali- 
ation was  captured  by  an  American  ship,  refitted, 
and  then  taken  by  the  French. 

In  1798  a  British  squadron  boarded  at  sea  the 
American  war  sloop  Baltimore,  took  from  her 
fifty-five  seamen,  sent  back  fifty,  and  carried  off 
the  other  five.  The  American  captain  protested, 
struck  to  superior  force,  but  the  Government  dis- 
missed him  from  the  navy  for  lack  of  spirit,  and 
authorized  armed  vessels  to  resist  all  attempts  to 
impress  from  their  crews. 

In  1799  the  American  frigate  Constellation, 
Captain  Truxton,  thirty-eight  guns  and  three  hun- 
dred and    nine    men,  met,   fought    and   took    the 


148  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

I'icnch  frigate  L'Insurgente,  of  forty  guns  and 
four  hundred  and  nine  men.  In  1800  the  Con- 
stellation, after  a  long  chase,  fought  and  disabled 
the  French  frigate  L'Vengeance,  of  fifty-two 
guns  and  four  hundred  men.  L'Vengeance  lost 
fifty  killed,  one  hundred  and  ten  wounded  ;  the 
Constellation  fourteen  killed,  twenty-five  wounded. 

In  iSoo  the  sloop  Boston  captured  the  French 
Marceau  of  twenty-four  guns.  In  all,  nearly  eighty 
small  French  vessels,  mostly  privateers,  were 
taken  by  the  Americans.  The  French  took  fewer 
American  vessels  than  before  the  war  began. 

Talleyrand  made  overtures  that  he  would  re- 
ceive an  envoy  with  respect.  Adams  nominated 
three  ;  Ellsworth,  VanMurray  and  Henry.  (Feb- 
ruary 25,  1799.)  Both  cabinet  and  Congress, 
dominated  by  Hamilton,  were  against  this  step. 

As  it  was  the  habit  of  Presidents  Washington 
and  Adams  to  retire  to  their  own  homes  after 
Congress  adjourned,  leaving  the  Cabinet  to  conduct 
all  but  the  most  important  affairs,  which  were 
forwarded  by  the  slow  mail  to  the  President, 
Adams  now  removed  the  opposition  members  to 
make  the  Cabinet  a  Federalist  unit. 

The  great  George  Washington  died,  December 
14,  1799,  at  Mt.  Vernon,  after  an  illness  of  one 
day.  He  was  almost  sixty-eight  years  of  age. 
America's  grief  was  deep,  absorbing. 

Congress  ordered  a  monument  erected  at  Wash- 
ington, which    is  a    disgrace  to    that    generation, 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     149 

because  it  represents  that  great  Christian  Ameri- 
can as  a  half-naked  pagan  Roman.  As  well 
represent  an  American  as  an  Indian  or  a  Hotten- 
tot. But  art  continued  corrupt  for  more  than 
forty  years  later. 

September  30,  1800,  America  and  France  made 
peace.  Each  was  to  restore  all  captured  property 
not  already  condemned  ;  each  to  pay  its  debts  ; 
each  to  put  the  other's  commerce  on  the  "  most- 
favored-nation  "  basis;  free  ships  to  make  free 
goods  ;  old  treaties  and  indemnity  to  wait  further 
negotiations. 

Our  Senate  ratified  all  but  the  old  treaties 
clause — it  regarded  them  as  ended — and  delay 
of  French  payment  of  indemnity.  Bonaparte 
construed  this  action  as  relinquishing  both,  and 
as  he  never  paid  anything  when  he  could  re- 
pudiate it,  he  thus  ratified  it  and  America 
assented  in  1801. 

The  war  spirit  declined  ;  Congress  enacted 
suspension  of  enlistments  and  discharge  of  most 
of  the  new  army.  Hamilton's  ambitious  scheme 
of  conquest  had  fallen.  It  was  for  Aaron  Burr  to 
try  that  scheme  later. 

A  navy  was  unpopular  and  Congress,  in  1800, 
authorized  the  sale  of  all  but  thirteen  frigates. 

A  man  was  charged  with  mutiny  and  murder  as 
Thomas  Nash  ;  was  claimed  by  a  liritish  consul 
under  the  extradition  clause  of  Jay's  treaty.  He 
made  oath  that  he  was  born  in  Connecticut,  and 


1  §0  THE    world's    CREATEST    CONFMCt. 

that  he  was  impressed  into  the  British  service. 
He  presented  a  notarial  certificate  granted  him  in 
New  York  long  before,  as  Jonathan  Robbins.  The 
President  instructed  the  court  to  surrender  him  on 
such  testimony  as  would  justify  his  commitment 
for  trial  had  the  offense  been  committed  in  Amer- 
ica. He  was  tried  at  Halifax  by  court-martial  and 
hanged.  Many  persons  severely  censured  the 
President's  act ;  resolutions  in  the  Senate  charg- 
ing the  President  with  a  dangerous  interference 
with  the  duties  of  the  judiciary  were  defeated  by 
about  the  usual  party  vote. 

Mobs  resisted  the  direct  tax  in  Pennsylvania. 
Without  resistance  about  thirty  rioters  were  ar- 
rested. Some  of  them  were  rescued.  Troops 
and  militia  were  sent  there.  PVies,  a  ringleader, 
and  two  others,  were  tried  and  convicted  of  trea- 
son. President  Adams  pardoned  them.  The 
government  was  removed  to  Washington,  D.  C, 
in  June,  1800. 

In  the  election  of  1800  the  Republican  candi- 
dates for  President  and  Vice-President  were 
Thomas  Jefferson  and  Aaron  Burr  ;  the  P'ederalist 
candidates  were  John  Adams  and  Charles  C. 
Pinckncy. 

In  the  electoral  college,  elected  by  the  people 
of  the  States,  Jefferson  and  Burr  had  each  seventy- 
three  votes,  Adams  had  sixty-five  and  Pinckney 
sixty-four.  There  was  no  choice.  The  constitu- 
tion provided   that   the   one  having   the   highest 


THE    WORLDS    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  I5I 

number  should  be  President,  and  the  next  highest 
Vice-President. 

The  House  of  Representatives  voting  by  States 
must  choose  from  the  two  highest  candidates.  An 
effort  was  made  to  reverse  the  intention  of  the 
people  and  to  elect  Burr  President.  The  first 
ballot  Jefferson  had  eight  States,  Burr  six  ;  divided 
equally,  two.  The  House  balloted  thirty-five  times 
without  choice.  On  the  thirty-sixth  ballot,  Feb- 
ruary 17,  ten  States  voted  for  Jefferson,  four  for 
Burr  (New  England),  two  were  blank  (Delaware 
and  South  Carolina).  Fifteen  days  more  without 
choice  would  have  ended  the  Constitutional  gov- 
ernment. It  was  the  Federalists  who  had  voted 
during  the  thirty-five  ballots  to  make  a  man  presi- 
dent whom  the  people  had  not  intended  for  that 
office.  This  wanton  violation  of  the  spirit  of  the 
constitution  swept  many  men  away  from  the 
Federal  party.  They  viewed  this  mad  attempt  to 
reverse  the  people's  will,  with  astonishment,  alarm 
and  indignation.  Burr,  a  bad,  selfish,  immoral 
man,  did  not  decline  such  support.  The  Republican 
party  now  disavowed  him.  The  election  of  Jef- 
ferson was  effected  by  an  assurance  from  him 
that  he  would  support  the  nation's  financial  credit ; 
that  he  favored  a  navy,  and  did  not  intend  to  dis- 
place fair-dealing  holders  of  minor  offices  for  par- 
tisan reasons. 

The  Federalist  majority  passed  an  act  to  estab- 
lish twenty-three  judicial  districts   in   six  circuits. 


152  THE    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

in  five  of  which  were  created  the  offices  of  a  chief 
justice  and  two  associates.  These  judgeships 
Adams  filled  up  very  near  the  close  of  his  term, 
with  Federalists,  f,aeatly  to  the  dissatisfaction  of 
the  Republicans. 

Henceforth  the  Federalists,  lately  so  powerful, 
were  but  a  defeated  minority.  The  Alien  and 
Sedition  laws,  house  tax,  stamp  taxes,  the  new 
court  law,  and  the  effort  to  defeat  the  people's 
election  by  trying  to  make  Burr  president,  the 
monarchial  or  class  ideas  of  Hamilton'.s  wing  of 
the  Federalist,  had  ruined  that  party.  In  1801  not 
a  governor  or  State  legislature  was  Federal  except 
in  Delaware,  Massachusetts  and  two  other  New 
England  States.  These  Alien  and  Sedition  laws 
and  that  for  non-intercourse  with  France,  expired 
on  the  day  of  Adams'  retirement,  March  4,  1801. 
The  new  judiciary  law  was  soon  after  repealed 
(March  1802).  The  army  was  reduced  to  three 
regiments  ;  about  three  thousand  men  commanded 
by  one  brigadier-general. 

The  United  States  internal  taxes  were  abolished. 
Naturalization  requirement  was  reduced  from  four- 
teen years'  residence  to  five.  The  Republicans 
wanted  little  navy  ;  no  standing  army  ;  no  direct 
national  internal  taxes.  The  Federalists  wanted 
all  these. 

The  census  of  1800  showed  the  population  to  be 
5,305,666  whites  and  1,002,037  colored.*    The  new 

*  Chambers's  Cyclopasdia,  Vol,  XIV.  p.  710. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  I  53 

ratio  for  members  of  Congress  was  thirty-three 
thousand  ;  the  number  of  members  one  hundred 
and  forty-one,  of  which  seventy-six  were  from 
eight  free  States  and  sixty-five  from  the  eight 
slave  States. 


XLI. 

PUBLIC  lands  were  sold  at  vendue  and  only 
at  the  Treasury  or  at  Pittsburg  and  Cincin- 
nati ;  all  at  a  distance  from  settlers,  and  in  tracts 
of  not  less  than  six  hundred  and  forty 
acres.  William  H.  Harrison,  delegate  united  states, 
from  Ohio,  procured  for  the  settlers  a  isoo. 

reform  of  this  inconvenience,  with  land 
offices  easy  of  access  and  land  at  two  dollars  an  acre 
on  credit.  As  in  colonial  times  England  had  pro- 
hibited manufactures  in  America,  and,  since  the  sep- 
aration, tariff  protection  was  insufficient  to  cause 
them  to  grow  up  as  they  were  then  growing  in^ 
France  under  strong  protection,  the  specie  was 
nearly  all  drained  from  America  and  everybody 
wanted  credit.  The  East  almost  alone  had  specie 
in  plenty,  because  the  East  was  commercial. 

The  Connecticut  reserve,  settled  from  New  Eng- 
land, became  the  northeast  part  of  Ohio.  Missis- 
sippi became  a  territory.  Indiana  was  organized 
a  territory,  with  Harrison  as  governor. 

BcMiaparte's  Egyptian  projects  had  failed.     He 


1  54    I'l^E  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT. 

suddenly  appeared  October  9,  1799,  in  France,  pre- 
ceded by  news  of  his  Turkish  victory  of  Aboukir. 
His  military  renown,  simplicity  of  manners,  favor 
to  science,  and  the  labors  of  his  secret  faction,  gave 
him  welcome.  His  coming  caused  extreme  sensa- 
tion. The  Directory  was  alarmed,  the  Republicans 
dismayed.  French  public  offices  were  elective ; 
he  might  probably  have  obtained  power  by  regu- 
lar means  without  force,  yet  he  chose  to  use  force. 
For  a  time  he  avoided  public  places.  His  dress 
was  simple,  he  declined  important  calls  to  fetes, 
he  met  the  great  lawyers,  discussed  civil  and 
criminal  law  and  commended  a  simpler  and  bet- 
ter code. 

Still  military  spirit  was  not  that  of  France.  A 
great  lawyer,  scientist  or  literateur  was  preferred 
to  a  mere  soldier.  Many  leaders  were  not  soldiers. 
The  civil  took  precedence.  Simplicity  was  popular. 
It  had  helped  Marat,  Robespierre  and  Danton  to 
power.  It  might  serve  Bonaparte.  He  went  with 
great  civilians  ;  wore  the  Institute  dress.*  But  he 
was  intriguing. 

Of  the  three  parties  the  Republicans  had  Berna- 
dotte,  Augereau,  Jourdan  and  Marbot.  Barras 
and  Sieyes  [each  led  a  party  which  sought  supre- 
macy over  France],  Ducos  and  the  Republicans, 
Moulins  and  Gohier,  were  the  discordant  Direc- 
tory in  power. 

The  Sieyes  party  was  influential,  but  not  ener- 

*  Memorial  of  St.  Helena. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  1 55 

getic.     Siey^s  "could  not  be  a  dangerous  rival,"* 
while  Republicans  would  not  accept  a  master. 


XLII. 

AMONG  great  soldiers  who  were  republican 
leaders  Bonaparte  might  have  found  rivals. 

"  Have  Barras  take  care  of  the  military  party,  par- 
alyze Bernadotte,  Jourdan  and  Auge- 
reau  and  gain  over  Sieyes,"  advised        xheCoup 
Fouche.     An  overture  was  made  to     d'etat.  Nov  9, 
Barras,  but  he  indicated  that  he  ex-  »799- 

pected  to  be  at  the  head  of  the  new 
government.  Bonaparte  left  him  without  giving 
him  a  hint  of  his  own  designs.  That  conversation, 
he  said,  was  decisive.  In  a  few  minutes  he  was 
with  Sieyes.  He  told  Sieyes  that  for  the  last  ten 
days  he  had  been  applied  to  by  all  parties,  but  that 
he  had  resolved  to  connect  himself  with  that  of 
Sieyes,  and  the  majority  of  the  Council  of  An- 
cients. They  arranged  on  the  eighth  Brumaire, 
that  between  the  fifteenth  and  the  twentieth  the 
revolution  should  occur.  Bonaparte's  emissaries 
alarmed  Barras  into  suspense,  and  lulled  the  vigi- 
lance of  Moulins  and  Gohier. 

The  Banker  Collet  lent  the  conspirators  two 
million  francs.  This  put  the  conspirators'  plan  in 
motion.      It    matured    with    great    rapidity.     The 

•  Fouchi's  Mcmuirs,  Tome  I.  p.  68. 


156       THE  world's  greatest  conflict. 

garrison  of  Paris  was  quietly  gained  over.  Partic- 
ular reliance  was  placed  in  two  cavalry  regiments 
that  had  served  with  Bonaparte  in  Italy.  Murat, 
Lannes  and  Leclerc  were  employed  to  conciliate 
the  leaders  and  principal  officers.  They  soon  won 
overBerthier,  Marmont,  Serruier,  Lcfevre,  Moncey 
and  even  Moreau. 

Lucien  Bonaparte  and  Regnier  treated  with  a 
few  deputies  who  were  devoted  to  Sieyes. 

Thus  a  multitude  of  varying  opinions  and  dif- 
fering interests  concurred  to  facilitate  the  over- 
throw of  the  Constitution. 

The  Minister  of  War  discovered  the  plot.  He 
informed  Moulins  and  Gohier.  He  demanded  the 
immediate  arrest  of  Bonaparte.  These  two  direc- 
tors could  not  believe  the  report.  They  had  seen 
General  Bonaparte  almost  every  morning  and 
evening  ;  his  manners  appeared  so  unpretending ; 
his  advices  uniformly  so  disinterested  and  open, 
they  could  not  believe  him  treacherous.  How 
could  they  imagine  that  a  general  who  laid  aside 
his  military  dress  for  that  of  a  member  of  the 
learned  Institute,  who  was  never  seen  in  public  but 
in  the  society  of  men  of  science,  literary  charac- 
ters, lawyers  and  philosophers  whom  nobody 
feared,  and  who  declaimed  to  his  soldiers  about 
Tarquin  and  Brutus,  could  be  at  the  head  of  a 
deep-laid  conspiracy  to  overturn  the  Republic  and 
subject  France  to  military  government  ? 

The  plan  was  to  dissolve  both  councils  and  the 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  1 5/ 

Executive  Directory,  and  take  supreme  power. 
Sieyes  had  great  influence  in  the  Council  of  the 
Ancients.  Lucien  Bonaparte  was  President  of  the 
Council  of  Five  Hundred. 

The  conspiring  members  of  the  Ancients,  and 
those  whose  weakness  was  known,  were  summoned 
to  meet  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the 
eighteenth ;  all  the  other  members  were  to  meet 
at  ten.  In  this  fragmentary  council  Carnot  urged 
the  transfer  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  to  St. 
Cloud,  and  to  commit  the  command  of  the  army 
to  Bonaparte.  Those  members  not  in  the  con- 
spiracy saw  the  snare.  They  strongly  resisted ; 
but  two  hours  before  the  rest  of  the  deputies 
arrived,  the  decree  was  passed  giving  legal  color 
to  the  gross  usurpation.*  General  Bonaparte  was 
seconded  by  many  not  in  the  conspiracy,  who 
ignorantly  believed  they  were  aiding  a  legal  meas- 
ure. He  had  summoned  those  officers  and  sol- 
diers on  whom  he  relied  ;  each  one  believed  the 
invitation  for  himself  alone,  and  expected  orders. f 

When  the  decree  reached  him  he  was  surrounded 
by  generals  and  officers  and  three  regiments  of 
cavalry,  most  of  whom  were  ignorant  of  his  pur- 
pose. He  addressed  them.  He  declared  that  he 
relied  on  their  co-operation  to  save  France  ;  he 
showed  them  his  new  commission,  placed  himself 
at  the  head  of  these  officers  and  the  fifteen  hun- 
dred horsemen,  ordered  the  generate  sounded,  and 

•  Memoir  by  Napoleon,  pp.  7j-6.  t  Ibid,  pp.  73-4. 


15S  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

that  the  decree  be  published  all  over  Paris  as  well. 

The  speeches  which  he  is  represented  to  have 
made  to  the  Ancients  differ  materially,  but  Bour- 
rienne,  who  was  present,  says  that  he  made  no 
speech,  but  delivered  "  a  series  of  rambling,  un- 
connected sentences  and  confused  replies  to  the 
President's  questions." 

Sieyes  and  Ducos  resigned ;  Moulins  and  Gohier 
protested.  Gohier  was  arrested,  Moulins  escaped. 
Barras  got  away  from  Paris  in  hot  haste. 

Fouche  closed  the  barriers.  It  was  important 
to  the  conspirators  that  P" ranee  should  know  what 
was  passing  only  from  their  reports.  Bonaparte 
proclaimed  to  Paris  that  the  Council  of  Ancients 
charged  him  to  take  measures  for  the  surety  of 
the  national  representation.  He  told  the  soldiers 
that  he  was  commissioned  to  assist  in  the  execu- 
tion of  constitutional  measures  in  favor  of  the 
people ;  that  liberty,  victory  and  peace  would  soon 
replace  France  in  the  high  rank  she  had  occupied 
among  the  States  of  Europe.  He  promised  a 
"  republic  founded  upon  true  liberty ;  upon  civil 
liberty;  upon  national  representation  ;"  he  swore 
it.     Each  of  the  generals  cried  out  "  I  swear  it." 

In  the  evening  another  council  was  held.  Many 
would  have  drawn  back.  It  was  too  late.  The 
more  timid  retired.  Then  temporary  consuls  were 
named  ;  Bonaparte,  Sieyes,  Roger  Ducos.  Sieyes 
proposed  the  arrest  of  forty  members.  "No,"  said 
Bonaparte;  "  I  have  sworn  this  morning  to  protect 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  1 59 

the  national  representation  ;    I  will  not  break  my 
oath." 

The  next  day  the  road  from  Paris  to  St.  Cloud 
was  covered  with  troops  commanded  by  Murat. 
Soldiers  under  Lannes  guarded  the  Legislative 
Councils.  Still  the  Parisians  saw  nothing  but  the 
execution  of  an  apparently  legal  decree.  So  the 
two  Councils  in  the  midst  of  the  troops  were  with- 
out means  of  support  from  without.  They  met. 
The  debate  became  stormy.  The  conspirators 
were  not  in  a  majority. 

In  the  Council  of  Five  Hundred  a  new  oath  to 
the  Constitution  was  demanded.  No  member 
dared  refuse.  The  proposal  was  loudly  cheered 
and  opposed.  As  Bonaparte  has  described  it  : 
"Yells  and  applause  were  heard  in  the  hall.  The 
moment  was  pressing.  Many  members  pronounced 
the  oath,  and  the  influence  of  such  discourse  made 
itself  felt  among  the  troops  ;  all  spirits  were  in 
suspense ;  the  tide  was  against  the  conspirators  ; 
the  zealous  became  timid  ;  the  timid  had  already 
changed  banners  ;  there  was  not  an  instant  to 
lose."  *     Bonaparte  was  in  the  greatest  peril. 

Then  Bonaparte  arrived  from  the  Council  of 
Ancients,  followed  by  a  company  of  grenadiers. 
The  instant  the  deputies  saw  him  and  his  military 
escort  they  broke  out  into  the  wildest  disorder. 
The  whole  body  stood  up  and  expressed  by  loud 
shouts  and  execrations   their  resentment  at  this 

•  Memoir  by  Napoleon,  Vol.  I,  p.  Hj. 


i6o       THE  world's  greatest  conflict. 

invasion  of  their  sacred  privileges ;  this  profana- 
tion of  the  temple  of  the  law.  •'  You  violate 
the  sanctuary  of  the  Law,  retire,"  cried  many 
deputies. 

Bonaparte  tried  to  speak  from  the  tribune.  From 
all  parts  he  heard  repeated  cries  :  "  Vif  la  Constitu- 
tion !  Vif  la  Republique !"  From  all  sides  the 
invective  "A  bas  Cromwell !"  "A  has  r Dicta- 
tor!"  ^^  Tyrant !  You  make  zvar  on  your  coun- 
try!'' cried  Arena,  and  showed  his  poniard.  The 
grenadiers  were  alarmed.  They  traversed  the  hall 
to  protect  their  general.  He  threw  himself  into 
their  arms;  they  carried  him  out.  Bonaparte,  the 
bold  usurper,  was  panic-stricken.  In  a  frenzy 
of  defeat  he  remounted  his  horse  and  galloped 
wildly  away,  crying  to  the  soldiers,  "  They  have 
attempted  my  life  !  " 

But  for  the  prompt  action  of  Murat  at  this 
crisis,  the  subsequent  destiny  of  Bonaparte  had 
all  been  changed.  The  Consulate ;  the  Empire 
would  never  have  been ;  the  history  of  Europe  for 
the  next  fifteen  years  would  all  have  been  differ- 
ent. Other  men  would  have  been  at  the  head  of 
France  ;  other  soldiers  would  have  led  her  armies  ; 
while  Bonaparte  would,  probably,  have  suffered 
punishment  as  a  political  felon  for  his  attempt  to 
assassinate  the  Republic.  The  Second  Empire, 
too,  would  never  have  existed.  There  would  have 
been  no  Austerlitz  and  no  Waterloo  ;  no  Magenta 
and  no  Sedan. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  l6l 

But  at  this,  one  of  the  most  critical  moments  of 
his  eventful  career,  his  presence  of  mind  appears 
to  have  totally  failed  him.  He  was  saved  by  the 
decisive  energy  of  Murat,  who  rode  up  to  him, 
and,  calling  out  that  it  is  not  fitting;  that  the  con- 
queror of  so  many  potent  enemies  should  be  over- 
come by  a  few  noisy  blockheads,  turned  his  horse's 
head  toward  the  hall  and  led  him  into  the  midst  of 
the  soldiers,  who,  less  frightened  than  their  general, 
still  remained  around  it. 

The  most  horrible  tumult  continued  in  the  hall. 
Lucien  Bonaparte,  the  President,  was  loudly  re- 
quired to  put  the  vote  for  the  outlawry  of  his 
brother.  Vainly  Lucien  entreated  a  hearing.  He 
then  attempted  to  dissolve  the  meeting.  Leaping 
from  his  chair,  he  threw  off  his  official  dress  and 
was  instantly  hurried  away  by  the  soldiers.  He 
joined  Murat  and  General  Bonaparte,  and  in  his 
character  as  President,  applied  formally  for  a  guard 
to  enable  him  to  dissolve  the  assembly. 

General  Bonaparte  ordered  Murat  to  march  into 
the  hall.  Five  hundred  soldiers  entered.  "  I  in- 
vite you  to  retire ;  we  can  no  longer  answer  for 
the  security  of  the  Council,"  said  a  colonel  to  the 
deputies.  The  soldiers  pushed  the  deputies  before 
them  ;  their  red  cloaks  and  hats  gradually  dis- 
appeared ;  the  most  obdurate  scarcely  resisted  ; 
many  passed  out  by  the  windows  near  the  ground. 

A  small  number  of  deputies  favorable  to  the 
usurpation  were  soon  assembled.     They  passed  a 


1 62  THE    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

decree  constituting  a  consular  executive  commis- 
sion, composed  of  Bonaparte,  Sieyes,  and  Ducos, 
invested  with  complete  dictatorial  power.  A  com- 
mission of  twenty-five  was  selected  in  each  Council 
to  assist  the  executive  power. 

Thus  the  reign  of  assemblies  was  for  a  long 
time  ended  in  France.  The  Constitution  of  the 
year  Three  was  abrogated.  On  that  day  Bonaparte 
and  Sieyes  declared  there  should  be  no  oppression  ; 
no  proscription ;  on  the  very  next  day  they  ban- 
ished fifty-nine  deputies  without  trial :  thirty-seven 
to  Guiana,  and  twenty-two  to  Oleron.  Bonaparte 
placed  the  most  respectable  names  with  the  worst, 
hoping  to  degrade  them  by  this  association.  This 
mean  policy  he  usually  pursued. 

The  desire  of  riches,  honors,  employment,  and 
the  terror  inspired  by  his  military  power;  the  fear 
of  being  thus  confounded  with  bad  characters  ;  the 
absence  of  public  discussion ;  the  lack  of  means  of 
knowing  the  real  opinions  of  others  ;  the  suppres- 
sion of  all  opportunity  for  choice ;  the  subjection 
of  the  press,  all  aided  to  throw  into  Bonaparte's 
train  many,  till  then,  sincere  lovers  of  liberty. 

Sieyes  wrote  the  new  Constitution.  Five  mil- 
lions of  electors  in  primary  assemblies  were  to 
prepare  a  department  list  of  fifty  thousand,  and 
these  in  turn  were  to  elect  a  national  list  of  five 
thousand  alone  capable  of  becoming  agents  of 
the  executive  power.  Municipal  and  department 
officers  were  to  be  chosen  in  similar  manner. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  1 63 

A  conservative  Senate  of  eighty  members,  called 
guardians  of  the  public  liberties  —  a  misnomer — - 
were  to  appoint  a  Tribunate  of  one  hundred  mem- 
bers, who  could  only  discuss  such  proposals  as  the 
Government  should  make  ;  and  a  Corps  Legisla- 
tive who  were  to  vote  without  power  to  debate  on 
measures  submitted  by  the  Council  of  State  and 
discussed  by  the  Tribunate.  Bonaparte,  Cam- 
baceres  and  Lebrun  were  made  Consuls.  Sieyes, 
Ducos,  Cambaceres  and  Lebrun  chose  the  senators. 
Bonaparte  appointed  a  Council  of  State.  New 
laws  were  voted  rapidly.  The  journals,  except 
thirteen,  were  suppressed.  It  was  a  fine  irony 
that  called  the  Senate  the  guardian  of  liberties, 
for  liberty  had  ceased. 

Bonaparte  ruled  with  firm  hand.  He  abrogated 
several  revolutionary  laws,  amalgamated  different 
parts,  and  by  degrees  consolidated  a  complete  des- 
potism ;  all  power  was  in  his  hands.  He  caused 
the  suppression  of  the  Vendean  and  Chouan  insur- 
rection in  the  west,  and  perfidiously  caused  the 
leader,  Frotte,  to  be  killed.  The  new  constitution 
was  proclaimed  December  13,  1799. 


164  THE    world's    GRKATEST    CONFLICT. 


XLIII. 

OUR    century   began    in    war.     The    nations 
hated  each  other. 
Only  Americans,  British  and  Swiss  had  guar- 
anteed rights.     Elsewhere  was  abso- 
When  this        lutc  monarchy  without  constitutions 
Century         or  liberty  or  personal  security, 
began.  Sovercigns  ruled  at  will  over  life, 

liberty,  property.  Persons  were  not 
free  ;  hardly  owned  their  own  bodies.  Labor  en- 
riched nobles,  but  not  laborers. 

Only  Denmark  and  four  American  States  had 
forbidden  the  slave  trade. 

Labor  took  part  in  ruling  only  by  paying  taxes. 
The  few  ruled. 

When,  in  1805-9,  Napoleon  defeated  Austria, 
the  Austrians  submitted  readily,  because  it  was 
not  a  war  between  peoples  or  of  the  people,  but  of 
rulers. 

Such  were  wars  then.  Victory,  defeat,  were 
mere  change  of  masters.  The  people  gained  noth- 
ing. So  Europe  itself  did  not  rise  against  Napoleon 
till  it  became  a  war  of  the  people. 

In  war  the  pawns  were  human  lives  ;  the  prizes 
were  not  human  happiness.  Had  Austria  and 
Russia  overthrown  Napoleon  at  Austerlitz,  or  had 
he  destroyed  them  at  Leipsic,  it  would  have  been 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  1 6$ 

only  the  triumph  of  one  arbitrary  ruler  instead  of 
another.  Content,  comfort,  protection,  progress, 
prosperity,  happiness,  the  most  exalted  blessings, 
would  have  had  no  gain. 

The  great  Jenner  blessed  mankind  more  than  did 
all  Napoleon's  wars.  James  Watt  the  illustrious, 
with  his  steam-engine  helped  our  race  more  than 
a  thousand  Cassars.  Fitch,  Miller,  Symonton  and 
Fulton's  steamboat  is  worth  more  than  ten  thou- 
sand Alexanders. 

In  1801,  no  national  Parliament  represented  a 
whole  people.  The  American  did  not  represent 
the  colored  one  fifth  of  the  people,  nor  the  British 
the  common  class.  The  French  Chambers  were 
ruled  by  the  man  who  appointed  them — Bona- 
parte. Even  Swiss  freedom  had  fallen  under  his 
dictation. 

Till  1789  the  French  had  no  rights.  Kings  and 
the  high  clergy  and  nobles,  only  two  per  cent,  of  the 
French,  gave  hard  rule  to  the  ninety-eight  per 
cent. 

The  two  per  cent,  owned  two  thirds  of  the  land, 
but  their  property  was  exempt  from  tax,  except 
two  per  cent,  on  crops.  The  poorer  class  paid  all 
other  taxes. 

The  king,  his  mistress  or  his  favorite  could  send 
an  innocent  person  to  prison  for  life  without  trial. 
The  misery  of  the  poor  ;  their  grinding  taxes;  the 
wrongs  received  from  Icings  and  nobles,  goaded 
them  to  agony  ;  drove  them   to  resistance  ;  gave 


i66       TiiK  world's  grkatest  conflict. 

them  fury.  Kings  and  the  higher  class  caused  the 
bloody  Revolution  ;  incited  the  people  to  it.  Had 
rule  been  kind,  just,  no  revolt  would  have  come. 

The  "  Reign  of  Terror"  was  done,  not  by  France, 
but  by  a  criminal  minority  that  gained  an  advantage 
of  the  better  France. 

The  Revolution  was  "  the  outbreak  of  a  people, 
down-trodden,  starved,  insulted,  spurned  and 
scorned  till  humanity  could  bear  no  more." 
Frenchmen  could  not  always  beat  marshes  that 
nobles  might  sleep. 

Everything  elastic  will  rebound.  So  did  France 
from  bad  king  at  one  extreme  to  bad  mob,  the 
other  extreme.  Despotism  was  atrocious,  recoil 
was  terrible.     Former  victims  sought  vengeance. 

It  was  a  cruel  period  :  of  war,  privateers,  press- 
gangs,  slave  trade,  slavery,  serfdom,  intolerance, 
anti-neutral  rights,  brute  force,  war  on  trade, 
denial  of  manhood  rights,  debasement  of  labor. 

On  the  day  the  invaders  who  came  to  restore 
despotism  were  defeated  at  Valmy,  September 
20th,  1792,  the  Assembly  had  declared  Finance  a 
Republic. 

Revolutionary  France  was  never  a  free  Repub- 
lican Democracy.  Democracy  is  the  rule  of  the 
people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people.*  France 
was  not  this.  A  republic  is  rule  by  freely  chosen 
representatives  of  the  people.  The  Terror  was 
not  that. 

•Abraham  Lincoln. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  167 

Most  political  convulsions  are  to  benefit  the 
rulers ;  few  are  for  the  good  of  the  commons. 
The  British,  American  and  French  Revolutions 
were  exceptions. 

By  1 801,  France,  Genoa,  Holland  and  the 
"Cisalpine  Republic"  had  won  constitutions,  but 
were  neither  democracies  nor  republics  in  fact. 

In  1 80 1  every  prominent  hereditary  monarch, 
except  the  Sultan  Selim  the  Third,  was  insane, 
stupid  or  narrow-minded.  George  the  Third  of 
England  had  all  these  traits  ;  insane  at  times, 
stupid,  small-minded  always.  He  took  active  part 
in  ruling.  Since  his  day  England  has  much  pro- 
gressed. Since  the  Reform  Act  of  1832  the 
people  control  Parliament,  Parliament  controls  the 
ministry,  and  the  ministry  controls  the  sovereign. 
George  was  an  obstacle  to  the  good  of  that  grand 
nation. 

Paul,  Emperor  of  Russia,  was  half  crazy,  violent, 
cruel.      His  was  a  bad  reign. 

Frederick  William,  King  of  Prussia,  lacked 
dignity,  energy,  decision,  ability ;  he  was  unfit 
to  reign. 

PVancis  the  Second,  Emperor  of  Germany, 
ruler  of  Austria,  was  incapable  as  a  leader. 
Nature  intended  him  for  a  common  peasant. 
Birth  made  a  great  blunder  when  it  made  him 
a  ruler. 

Gustavus  the  Fourth  misruled  Sweden.  His 
senators    were    merely  to    give    advice.     He   was 


iTuS  illi:    \V(1KI.lVs    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

rash,  erratic ;  so  unfitted  to  Sweden  that  his  peo- 
ple in  1809  expelled  him  for  his  foolishness, 

Denmark's  king,  Christian  the  Seventh,  was 
insane  from  his  excesses.  Prince  Frederick  was 
regent  from  1784  to  1808,  when  he  became  king. 
The  able  Bernstordf  was  minister.  In  his  time 
serfdom  and  monopolies  were  abolished,  and  first 
in  Europe,  the  slave  trade  prohibited. 

In  Spain  Charles  the  Third  died,  1788.  The 
heir  to  the  throne  was  an  idiot  ;  another  disa- 
greement between  Nature  and  heredity.  The 
heir  was  set  aside.  The  king's  immoral,  worth- 
less second  son  became  Charles  the  Fourth. 
"  He  was  the  jest  of  the  Queen  and  her  favor- 
ites." *  "  Manuel  Godoy,  '  Prince  of  Peace,'  the 
worthless  Queen's  favorite,  ruled  :  a  weak  minis- 
ter, under  whom  everything  became  venal."! 

Queen  Maria  of  Portugal  was  insane.  Her  son, 
Joam,  became  regent,  1799.  Government,  army, 
finance,  trade  were  deplorable.  War  with  France 
ended  in  1801. 

In  Naples  Ferdinand  the  First  was  little  better 
than  his  brother  Charles  of  Spain.  In  1798  he 
ran  away,  while  the  lazzaroni  fought  the  French  for 
three  days.  The  victorious  French  declared  the 
"  Parthenopean  Republic"  (which  fell  in  1799). 
Then  Ferdinand  bought  peace  of  France  and 
received  sixteen  thousand  French  troops. 

Rome  had  no  trade,  no  navy,  no  incentives  to 

•  Sir  Walter  Scott.  t  Ibid. 


THE    WORLD^S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  1 69 

labor.  The  Pope  ruled.  The  officials  were  priests. 
They  encouraged  celibacy  and  beggary.  Napo- 
leon had  declared  it  a  "  republic,"  but  it  fell  again 
to  its  old  rulers  in  1799. 

While  Bonaparte  was  gone  to  Egypt  in  1799, 
Austria  aided  by  Russia  reconquered  all  Northern 
Italy. 

Austria  held  Venice.  France  retook  Piedmont, 
Tuscany,  Parma,  Genoa,  Lucca  and  Rome  in  Bona- 
parte's campaign  of  1800. 

Holland  was  liberated  from  its  Stadtholder  by 
the  French  under  Pichegru,  in  1795.  It  took  its 
old  constitution  and  made  alliance  with  France. 
The  French  ruled  it,  which  caused  England  to 
seize  its  colonies.   It  was  the  "Batavian  Republic." 

The  German  Emperor  Joseph  the  Second  had 
made  reforms  before  1789.  Belgium,  offended, 
revolted,  formed  the  "  United  States  of  Bel2:ium  " 
in  1790,  but  yielded  to  Joseph's  successor,  Leo- 
pold the  Second,  in  1791.  In  1794,  in  war  with 
Austria,  the  French  won  Belgium  in  their  victory 
at  P"leurus. 

In  Switzerland  the  P'rench  overthrew  the  old 
Helvetic  Confederacy,  in  1798,  and  forced  a 
new  order  of  affairs.  Revolutions  followed  each 
other  for  six  years.  Napoleon  controlled  it  from 
1799  to  1814. 

The  Ionian  Isles  were  subdued  by  Turkey  and 
Russia  and  made  the  "Republic  of  the  Seven 
Islands  "  in  1800. 


170       THE  world's  greatest  conflict. 


Selim  the  Third  was  Sultan  of  Turkey  from 
17891111  1807.  In  1788  Russia  and  Austria  tried 
to  divide  Turkey.  But  the  Austrians  met  defeat, 
while  Russia  got  the  country  beyond  the  Dniester. 
The  French  attacked  Egypt  in  1798. 

In  1 701  Britain  ruled  beyond  ocean  perhaps 
3,000,000  people  ;  in  1801  about  100,000,000. 

*  In  1801  the  kingdom's  population  was 
16,319,444;  its  exports  were  $180,000,000;  not 
two  thirds  per  head  as  much  as  that  of  the 
United  States.  Brief  peace  in  1802  increased  it, 
but  war  in  1803  sent  it  still  lower. 

England's  population,!  a.  d.  450,  was  reckoned  at 
1,500,000.  In  616  years  it  increased  to  2,150,000, 
in  1066,  only  43^^  per  cent.  During  the  Norman 
period,  1066  to  11 54 — 88  years  —  it  gained  to 
3,350,000  or  55y^j  per  cent.  Under  the  Plantag- 
enets,  321  years  to  1485  it  became  4,000,000  ;  barely 
6i  per  cent,  for  each  century.  In  the  Tudor,  118 
years  to  1603,  it  rose  to  5,000,000  ;  about  25  per 
cent,  increase.     This  is  England  without  Wales. 

In  the  next  two  centuries  to  1801,  the  increase 
was  about  3,609,000;  about  36  per  cent,  a  century. 
From  1801  to  1881,  it  gained  to  the  astonishing 
increase  of  185I  per  cent,  to  24,608,391 ;  an  increase 
above  two  and  three  tenths  per  cent,  a  year;  a 
rate  larger  each  four  years  than  any  rate  per  cent- 
ury prior  to  1485,  except  in  the  Norman  period. 

•Census.  t  J.  Fisher's  Landholding  in  England,  p.  5. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  I /I 


XLIV. 

JANUARY  I,  1801,  Britain  and  Ireland  became 
one  kingdom.     Because  Russia,  Sweden  and 
Denmark  united  to  resist  British  search  of  their 
ships  at  sea,  England  embargoed  their 

War  and  riot.       VCSSCls. 

1800.  Denmark    shut    out    the    English 

from    the    Elbe.       Prussia    occupied 

free    Bremen  and   George   the  Third's    Hanover. 

England    took    Denmark's    and    Sweden's    West 

India  Islands. 

Admirals  Parker  and  Nelson  destroyed  most  of 
the  Danish  fleet,  and  the  Russians  murdered  their 
Czar  Paul.  This  stopped  the  war,  broke  the 
union,  and  peace  was  made,  each  giving  up  what 
had  been  taken. 

The  peace  of  Luneville,  February  9,  1801,  left 
only  France  and  Britain  at  war.  It  separated 
Austria  and  the  Cisalpine  by  the  Adige,  left  all 
west  of  the  Rhine  to  France,  gave  up  part  of  Ger- 
many as  spoils  to  be  divided  among  rulers  by 
Bonaparte  and  the  Czar.  Malta  was  to  go  to  its 
knights  of  St.  John. 

England's  distress  in  1800  was  frightful. 
Small  harvests  and  useless  war  made  famine. 
Still  the  ministry  harassed  neutral  ships,  thus 
frightening  away  cargoes   of  needed   food.     Any 


172  THK    world's   greatest   CONFLICT. 

American  or  English  ship  was  liable  to  lose  its 
seamen,  forcibly  taken  to  serve  in  the  British 
navy. 

Wheat  was  four  dollars  a  bushel.  Bread  mobs 
rioted.     Hunger  was  raging. 

By  December  it  was  worse.  Wheat  was  higher, 
hunger  more  severe,  mobs  more  angry.  The  min- 
istry suspended  the  great  safety  of  Britons  —  the 
habeas  corpus — so  as  to  make  arbitrary  arrests. 
But  famine  grew  stronger ;  its  riots  gave  wild 
alarm  for  social  danger. 

By  the  spring  of  1801  it  was  still  worse  ;  bread 
still  higher,  the  poor  still  poorer.  The  poor  rate 
took  twenty-five  million  dollars  ;  it  had  doubled  in 
eighteen  years. 

Men  were  not  safe ;  press  gangs  prowled  and 
kidnaped ;  men  disappeared  to  perish  in  the  navy 
abroad.  British  liberty  was  limited  ;  imports  of 
food  turned  the  balance  of  trade  against  this 
greatest  of  trading  nations. 

Pitt's  war  and  Pitt's  prodigality  had  sent  abroad 
England's  gold  and  silver  to  hire  nations  to  fight 
France. 

Gurth,  thrall  of  Cedric,  with  iron  collar,  was 
less  miserable  than  George  the  Third's  press-gang 
victims.  Gurth,  the  slave,  had  friends  around 
him  ;  the  pressed  man  had  none  ;  Gurth  was  safe 
from  harm  ;  the  pressed  man  had  many  harms. 
Gurth  had  the  free  woods  and  fields  ;  the  pressed 
man's  hammock  hung  on  deck  in  the  cold  winds 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  1 73 

of  Northern  seas,  or  perhaps  was  below  decks  in 
the  stifling  heat  of  the  Indies.  Gurth  slept  peace- 
fully at  night ;  the  pressed  man  was  exposed  to 
all  the  night  storms  and  gales  and  billows  and 
fevers  of  African  lagoons. 

Happily  progress  has  swept  such  governments 
as  that  of  George  the  Third  from  Britain. 


XLV. 

IRELAND  was  never  conquered  by  Romans  or 
Northmen.  Many  small  and  five  principal 
tribes  once  existed.  Roderic  O'Connor  of  Con- 
naught  was  nominal  head. 

McMurrough,    King    of     Leinster,  ueiand. 

was,  for  offense,  deposed.     To  recover 
power  he  engaged  Norman  knights,  under  Strong- 
bow,  who  then  married  his  daughter,  usurped  rule, 
beat  Roderic  himself,  seized  much  land  and  divi- 
ded it  among  his  co-robbers. 

The  Irish  were  never  under  the  see  of  Rome 
till  Pope  Adrian  the  Third,  by  a  Bull,  in  1156,  ex- 
horted Henry  the  Second  of  England  to  invade 
Ireland  to  extirpate  vice  and  wickedness,  and 
compel  natives  to  pay  to  the  Pope  a  penny  a  year 
for  every  house.  The  Pope  gave  entire  authority 
to  Henry,  and  commanded  obedience  to  him  as 
their  king. 

Henry  made  a  progress,  received  homage,  and 


174    '^'"J-  WORLDS  GREATEST  CONFLICT. 

shortly  returned  to  England,  leaving  Strongbow 
as  his  seneschal.  Law  and  equity  were  soon 
little  known.  "  Palatinates  were  erected  in  favor 
of  the  new  adventurers,  independent  authority 
conferred  ;  the  natives,  never  fully  subdued,  re- 
tained their  animosities  against  their  conquerors  ; 
their  hatred  was  retaliated  by  like  injuries."  * 

Under  Henry  the  Eighth  "  the  English  law 
courts,  ignoring  the  Irish  custom  by  which  the 
land  belonged  to  the  tribe  at  large,  regarded  the 
chiefs  as  the  sole  proprietors."  f  Thus  England 
originated  Irish  landlords. 

"  Landlordism  kept  the  bulk  of  the  people  in 
worse  than  Egyptian  bondage  ;  held  them  in  igno- 
rance of  the  real  sources  of  their  misery  ;  exacted 
from  them  the  highest  rent  that  could  be  obtained 
by  subdivision  of  the  land  ;  and  by  this  multipli- 
cation of  small  holdings,  left  them  to  multiply 
upon  the  barest  amount  of  subsistence,  and  with 
the  total  absence  of  the  ordinary  decencies  and 
comforts  of  the  humblest  life. "J 

Three  fourths  were  Catholics,  and  English  law 
of  1 69 1  excluded  Catholics  from  Irish  parliament. 
The  English  Act  of  1760  took  away  their  right 
of  voting. 

By  act  of  Queen  Anne,  Irish  Catholics  were 
excluded  from  civil  rights,  civil  service,  army  and 

*  Hume's  History  of  England,  Vol.  I.  p.  333. 

t  Green's  (English)  History  of  England,  p.  204. 

t  Knight's  (English)  History  of  England,  Vol.  VU.  p.  115. 


THE  WORLDS  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     1 75 

navy  commissions,  from  magistracy,  from  fran- 
chise, from  any  part  in  Irish  government.  A 
Catholic  could  not  be  a  lawyer  ;  could  not  defend 
a  Catholic  in  court.  Education  was  forbidden. 
Teaching  a  Catholic  school  or  family  was  felony. 
Catholics  could  not  buy  or  inherit  land  ;  they 
could  rent  only  on  uncertain  tenure,  and  must  pay 
rackrent  for  their  own  improvements. 

Law  bribed  children  to  betray  parents.  A  child, 
by  becoming  Protestant,  could  dispossess  his 
father  and  take  his  property  at  once. 

English  law  shut  out  Irish  cattle  from  English 
market,  forbade  Irish  products  foreign  market,  hin- 
dered Irish  manufactures,  burdened  Irish  industry, 
barred  its  progress,  prevented  its  prosperity. 

This  system  kept  the  Irish  very  poor  and  very 
hopeless. 

The  Irish  parliament  in  Dublin  could  initiate 
no  business.  All  must  first  be  approved  by  the 
British  ministry.  It  was  merely  a  tool  of  the  min- 
istry.    It  did  not  represent  Ireland  or  the  Irish. 

Said  Grattan  (1793)  :  "  Of  three  hundred  mem- 
bers, above  two  hundred  are  returned  by  individ- 
uals ;  from  forty  to  fifty  are  returned  by  ten 
persons  ;  several  burroughs  have  no  resident 
elector  at  all  "  ;  two  thirds  were  chosen  by  less 
than  one  hundred  persons. 

The  Iri.sh  rebelled  in  1798.  The  revolt  was 
forcibly  suppressed. 

By    persuasion,    pressure    and    money,    Cu-orgc 


1/6       Tiir.  wori.d's  greatest  conflict. 

the  Third  and  Pitt  obtained  a  vote  of  this  parlia- 
ment for  union  with  Great  Britain.  The  British 
Parliament  passed  the  Act  January  i,  1801,  and 
Britain  and  Ireland  became  one  kingdom  with  one 
parliament,  with  twenty-eight  Irish  temporal,  and 
four  Protestant  church  peers,  and  one  hundred 
Irish  members  of  the  House  of  Commons. 

Revenue  taxes  were  proportioned  fifteen  for 
Britain  to  two  for  Ireland,  though  Ireland  was 
half  as  populous  as  Great  Britain. 

Ireland  was  to  have  the  same  trade  and  naviga- 
tion laws,  and  treaty  rights  ;  it  kept  its  law  courts, 
and  had  appeal  and  writ  of  error  to  the  House  of 
Lords. 

Pitt  prepared  to  give  to  Catholics  all  the  rights 
of  Britons.  The  king  refused.  They  must  still 
be  excluded  from  corporations,  Parliament,  and 
from  army  and  navy  office. 

"  That  reconciliation  of  races  and  sects  without 
which  the  Union  could  exist  only  in  name,  was  not 
accomplished,"* 

*  Macaulay. 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     1 7/ 


XLVI. 

IN   1801  Germany  was   the  fifty-fourth  part  of 
Europe:  208,613  square  miles.     The  German 
Empire  had  three  Chambers,     (i)  Electoral  col- 
lege of  eight  votes,  held  by  the  Arch- 
bishops    of     Mentz,     Cologne     and        Germany. 
Treves,  and    the   electors   who  were 
sovereigns  of  Bohemia,  Bavaria,  Saxony,  Branden- 
burg, and   Brunswick-Luneberg  or  Hanover.     (2) 
College  of   Princes  of   the  Empire,  spiritual  and 
temporal,  each  with  a  vote.     (3)  Fourteen  Rhen- 
ish and  thirty-seven  Swabian  free,  imperial  cities, 
each  with  a  vote.     These  were  the  Diet. 

The  Emperor  was  referee.  He  could  refuse 
sanction,  but  could  not  modify  decisions.  Meet- 
ings were  usually  called  by  the  Emperor  at  Ratis- 
bon  twice  a  year.  The  Diet  could  make  laws, 
war,  peace  or  taxes.  Aulic  Council  and  Cameral 
decided  disputes  between  members. 

Forty-four  free  towns  were  little  republics,  each 
with  local  rule. 

The  I'^mperor  hud  little  power ;  the  Diet  much. 
Yet  each  of  nt^arly  one  hundred  ruling  nobles  was 
absolute  in  his  domain.  Nobility  was  strict  caste  ; 
a  poor  noble  would  not  have  married  the  richest 
plebeian  heiress.  The  High  Church  places  were 
held    by    hereditary    aristocracy.      Pride   of    birlh 


178  THE   world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

was  extreme.  Nobles  held  extreme  power  to  tax, 
or  use  or  sell  the  service  of  common  people,  as 
several  sold  their  subjects  to  George  the  Third  to 
fight  Americans  in  1777.* 

A  noble's  children  are  nobles,  while  in  England 
only  the  oldest  son  is  a  noble.  British  peers  are 
under  law  ;  continental  nobles  were  above  law. 
Only  nobles  could  hold  army  or  navy  office. 
British  peerage  and  office  are  open  to  all  to 
aspire. 

Till  Von  Stein's  reforms  in  Prussia,  began  in 
1807,  a  commoner  could  not  buy  a  noble's  land. 
Nobles'  property  was  exempt  from  land  tax,  which 
made  the  tax  heavier  on  commoners.  Military 
flogging  was  allowed  till  1808-9.  Free  jury  trial 
was  unknown.  Popular  education,  now  so  com- 
plete, did  not  exist.  Then,  as  now,  were  three 
classes  :  nobles,  burghers  and  peasants  ;  profes- 
sional men,  merchants,  artists  and  many  public 
officers  are  burghers. 

February  3,  1801,  Pitt  proposed  to  resign,  know- 
ing that  the  king  would  "influence  others  on  the 
Catholic  question,"  but  promised  his  assistance  to 
a  new  ministry.     George  accepted. 

For  weeks,  till  March  7,  George  was  again 
insane.  When  his  mind  returned,  he  accused 
Pitt  of  making  him  ill.  Pitt's  answer  was  "most 
dutiful,  humble,  contrite."  He  said  he  would  give 
up    the    Catholic    question.!     That    Pitt    lacked 

*  Bancroft,  Vol.  V.  p.  12.  t  Pitt  to  George,  March,  1801. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  1 79 

conscience  is  here  strongly  indicated.  Pitt,  who 
did  not  wince  at  the  world's  misery  from  the 
bloodshed  which  he  instigated  and  subsidized,  be- 
trayed his  own  measure,  failed  in  his  own  promise 
to  a  great  people,  to  please  this  George  of  whom 
Thackeray  says  :  "  He  bribed  ;  he  bullied  ;  he 
darkly  dissembled  on  occasion  ;  he  exercised  a 
slippery  perseverance  and  a  vindictive  resolu- 
lution."*  At  the  moment  when  so  weak  toward 
George,  Pitt  was  planning  the  bloody  Copenhagen 
calamity,  and  the  useless  Egyptian  campaign  of 
1 801,  though  the  French  in  Egypt  had  offered  to 
surrender  and  be  sent  to  France.  He  left  office 
March  14,  1801.  With  him  went  out  Lord  Gren- 
ville,  whos'e  advice,  taken  by  George,  lost  England 
her  American  colonies,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Mississippi,  and  whose  ill-mannered  reply  to  Bona- 
parte's overtures  for  peace  in  1799  angered  both 
English  and  French.  The  old  Whig  leaders  re- 
tired also  (Wyndham  and  Spencer). 

A  just  and  able  king  would  have  made  a  cabinet 
of  the  wisest  and  ablest  men.  But  George  was 
obstinate.  He  called  "  up  the  rear  rank  of  the  old 
ministry  to  form  the  front  rank  of  the  new  minis- 
try. In  an  age  preeminently  fruitful  of  parlia- 
mentary talents,  a  cabinet  was  formed,  containing 
hardly  a  single  man  who,  in  parliamentary  talents, 
could  be  considered  as  even  of  the  second  ratc."t 

They  relied  on  Pitt;    he  took  his  scat  behind 

•  Thackeray,  George  the  Tliird.  t  Macaulay,  Life  of  Pitt. 


iSo  TllK    WORLDS    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

them  ;  was  still  the  active  power  of  their  Tory 
ministry. 

England  saw  the  situation  with  dismay.  New 
taxes,  famine,  bread  riots,  the  coin  gone  to  pay 
foreign  subsidies  British  cargoes,  for  less  danger, 
were  seeking  American  vessels  ;  trade  was  suffer- 
ing ;  press  gangs  busy  ;  the  British  stood  utterly 
alone;  the  treaty  of  Luneville  (February  9,  1801) 
had  given  Europe  peace,  but  George  and  Pitt  had 
held  aloof.  Not  a  nation  of  the  world  sympathized 
with  George  and  Pitt. 

The  new  premier,  Henry  Addington,  was  not  an 
able  man.  He  released  men  arrested  arbitrarily 
by  Pitt,  but  in  April  he  again  suspended  habeas 
corpus,  and  made  war  on  free  British  meetings  and 
freedom  of  speech. 


XLVII. 

AT  sea  every  nation  now  has  control  over  its 
public    and    private  vessels    and  punishes 
crime  committed  on  them.      No  nation   has  a  right 
to    visit    or    search    the    vessels    of 
The  Right  of      anothcr  nation  at  sea. 
Search.  Then    Gcorgc    the   Third    claimed 

the  right  to  stop,  board  and  search  the 
private  ships  of  any  nation,  and  take  away  such 
.seamen  as  were  believed  to  be  British  born,  and 
such  of  the  cargo  as  he  called  contraband.     By 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     l8l 

force  he  exercised  this  dangerous,  odious  power 
in  defiance  of  laws,  protests,  rights  and  interests 
of  other  nations.  He  seized  ships,  impressed  sea- 
men from  them,  took  away  cargoes,  and  turned 
aside  vessels  from  their  voyages. 

Nations  engaged  in  commerce,  injured,  insul- 
ted, were  indignant.  In  time  of  peace — July, 
1799 — the  Danish  frigate  Freya,  attempting  to 
defend  its  convoy,  was  captured  and  taken  as  a 
prize  to  England. 


XLVIII. 

IN     1808    Russia    had    41,403,200    people,    or 
32,129,200,  in    Europe,  and  9,274,000  in  Asia. 
Seven  million  people  had  been  taken 
from  Poland  and  Turkey  since  1773.  Russia,  in 

Nature    had   forgotten    to    endow  i8<»- 

the  Czar  Paul  with  manly  heart  and 
mind.  Violent,  ignorant,  he  hated  his  mother, 
Catherine  the  Second,  and  aimed  to  make  his  rule 
different  from  hers.  At  first  he  raised  hope  by 
disgracing  his  father's  murderers,  and  pardoning 
Polish  prisoners.  But  no  department  was  free 
from  his  frivolous  meddling ;  no  class  escaped  his 
arbitrary  mischief  ;  he  irritated  the  soldiers  ;  he 
offcnrlcd  the  nobles.  His  ministers,  his  wife,  his 
children,  were  not  safe  from  his  fury.  He  guarded 
his  palace  as  a  fortress.     He   filled    the   prisons. 


i5!2       Till,  world's  greatest  conflict. 

Executions  were  frequent.  He  exiled  many  per- 
sons to  Siberia.  He  was  absolute  monarch  and  his 
people  were  powerless  to  restrain  his  vicious 
course.  A  Russian  was  as  helpless  as  a  Protes- 
tant in  Spain,  a  Catholic  in  Ireland,  a  Jew  in 
England,  a  Mussulman  in  Portugal,  a  Christian 
at  Stamboul  ;  not  quite  as  hopeless  as  a  Jew  in 
Germany  or  a  slave  in  Carolina. 

Russia  had  but  two  classes  :  nobles  and  com- 
mons ;  as  England  had  two  classes,  the  govern- 
ing and  the  governed.  In  much  of  Europe  was 
but  one  class  ;  the  governed. 

Russians  needed  British  commerce  to  exchange 
raw  produce  for  goods.  Enraged  by  the  Czar's 
spoil  of  English  vessels,  and  by  his  many  vexa- 
tious acts,  they  remonstrated.  Paul  threatened 
them  with  exile ;  he  punished,  exiled,  impris- 
oned ;  nobody  was  safe.  One  night  men  entered 
his  palace.  Paul  was  asleep.  Two  Hungarians 
guarded  his  bedroom.  They  resisted,  but  no  help 
came  ;  nobody  wanted  to  defend  the  crazy  tyrant  ; 
the  Hungarians,  seeing  numbers  against  them, 
ran  off ;  Paul  took  refuge  behind  a  screen.  Some- 
body held  out  a  paper  and  said  : 

"  Here  is  your  abdication  ;  sign  it  and  I  will 
answer  for  your  life." 

Paul  resisted  ;  the  light  fell ;  somebody  tight- 
ened a  scarf  around  his  neck,  gave  him  a  blow  on 
the  head.  When  light  was  brought  Paul  was 
dead. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  I83 

With  him  fell  the  Northern  coalition,  nine  days 
before  the  calamity  of  Copenhagen. 

A  few  days  later  Paul's  son,  Alexander  the 
First,  was  crowned  Emperor.  Madame  Bonneuil 
wrote  :  "  Before  him  marched  his  grandfather's 
murderers,  by  his  side  his  father's,  and  behind 
him  his  own." 


XLIX. 

THE    Danish   fleet,    six    ships    of    the   line, 
eleven  floating  batteries,  and  some  smaller 
vessels,    were,    in    time    of    peace,    attacked    by 
Admiral     Parker    and    Vice-Admiral 
Nelson,  with  eighteen    ships    of  the      calamity  of 
line  and  several  frigates  and  smaller     Copenhagen, 
vessels,  and  destroyed.     It   was  vie-      ^prii  i,  isoi. 
tory  to  superior  force  ;  a  great  outrage 
when  war   had   not  been    declared.     The    Danes 
made  brave  defense.      Pitt    planned    this   cruelty 
when    minister.      Denmark,   Sweden    and    Russia 
would  have  been  peaceful  if  only  England  would 
let  alone  their  ships  and  seamen.     This  alone  was 
why  they  were  preparing  for  war,  that  the  English 
seized    their   ships  and    sailors.     The    new    Czar, 
Alexander,  made  a  treaty  with   Britain   in  June. 
Bonaparte  sought  supremacy  ;  but  l<:ngland's  min- 
istry wanted  to  be  absolute  at  sea,  the  highway  of 
nations  that  should  be  free. 


184  THE    world's    GKEATEbT    CONFLICT. 


L. 


BERNSTORFF    improved   the   condition    of 
the  Danes,  allowed  a  free  press,  and  estab- 
lished   courts   of    conciliation ;    respectable    men 
were  to  examine  each  case  of  conten- 
Denmark.        tion,    givc    dccisions    legal    only    on 
consent    of    both    parties,    cither   of 
whom   is   at  liberty  still   to  try  his  cause  in  the 
regular  courts.     During  three    years  before   this 
peacemakers'  law,  25,521  causes  were  begun  in  the 
law  courts  ;  in  the  next  three  years  only  9,653,  a 
difference  of  15,863  law  suits  saved.     In  Holland 
this  system  had  good  results. 

A  few  peasants  had  freeholds  ;  most  of  them 
were  tenants  ;  landlords  furnished  the  first  stock 
and  took  pay  in  produce,  labor  or  money.  Bern- 
storff  enabled  many  to  buy  their  land. 

In  1796  the  army  was  23,654  regulars,  and 
50,880  militia.  In  1801  the  whole  navy  was 
twenty-two  line  ships,  ten  frigates  and  some  small 
vessels. 

Specie  was  scarce ;  too  much  paper  money 
issued.  Potatoes,  after  great  objections,  had  be- 
come a  common  crop.  About  seventy-five  vessels, 
of  forty  to  two  hundred  tons,  had  its  West  India 
trade. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  1 85 


LI. 


IN  March,  1801,  British  and  Turkish  troops 
and  a  British  squadron  went  to  Egypt.  The 
French,  badly  scattered,  were  defeated  near 
Alexandria,  March  21.  Attacked  by 
superior  force,  Bellard  surrendered  at  a  wanton 
Cairo,  and  the  other  French  at  Alex-  war.  Egypt. 
andria,  August    30,  on   condition    of  1801. 

safe   conveyance   to    France.     Thus, 
with  great  expense  of  life  and  treasure,  George  got 
precisely  what  he  and  Pitt  had  stupidly  refused 
a  year  and  a  half  before.     And  this  vast  expense 
when  England  was  starving  ! 


LII. 

EIGHTEEN- HUNDRED- AND-ONE  was 
again  a  year  of  short  crops.  England 
suffered  terribly.  The  people  were  uneasy.  They 
rioted  for  bread. 

Shareholders  of  the  Bank  of  Eng-         Famine, 
land    received    five   per   cent,   bonus 
besides  seven   per  cent,  interest ;  but  the  people 
were  hungry. 

The    people   wanted    peace   and    food.     They 
wanted  the  bread  that  the  expense  of  ilic  useless 


1 86       THE  world's  i;keatest  conflict. 

Egypt  war  would  liave  bought.  England  was  in 
alarm.  What  might  not  be  feared  from  starving- 
poor  men  } 

Import  of  food  was  invited  by  high  bounties. 
Still  George's  officers  searched  neutral  ships  and 
George  wondered  why  American  and  Russian 
ships  did  not  bring  a  full  supply  of  wheat. 

Early  in  1801,  when  George  was  destroying 
Denmark's  navy,  because  Denmark  wished  to  pro- 
tect peaceful  commerce,  English  mobs  paraded 
Windsor  streets  before  George's  palace  windows. 
They  wanted  food.  The  militia  was  brought  out. 
Bayonets  were  paraded.  But  somehow  bayonets 
did  not  satisfy  British  hunger.  The  mob  broke 
the  baker's  windows.  But  British  ships  that 
might  have  brought  food  were  carrying  forces  to 
attack  peaceful  Copenhagen. 


LIII. 

IN    1795  Holland  passed  from  the  influence  of 
England  and  Austria  to  the  power  of  France. 
When  the  French  army  arrived,  the  Patriots,  the 
worthy  and  thrifty  middle  class,   ob- 
Hoiiand.         taincd  ascendency.     Could  they  have 
retained  it,  happy  it  would  have  been 
for  Holland.     France  acknowledged  its  independ- 
ence, as  the  Batavian  Republic,  May  16,  1795. 
France  received  it  as  an  allv,  but,  taking  advan- 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  1 8/ 

tage  of  its  disagreeing  parties,  soon  subjected  it, 
practically,  to  the  condition  of  a  province.  Sel- 
dom was  country  so  harassed  by  friends.  It 
vacillated  between  a  united  and  a  federal  republic  ; 
its  late  ally,  England,  deprived  it  of  its  trade, 
seized  its  colonies,  blockaded  its  coasts,  barred  it 
even  from  its  own  valuable  coast  fisheries,  and  de- 
stroyed much  of  its  fleet.  France  constantly  in- 
terfered in  its  affairs,  exacted  large  sums  of  money, 
compelled  the  Dutch  to  feed,  clothe  and  pay  a 
French  army  in  Holland,  freely  exposed  and  lost 
Dutch  ships  to  the  stronger  British. 

Political  changes  in  Paris  were  repeated  in  Hol- 
land. It  had  its  Directory.  Then  Consul  Bona- 
parte gave  it  a  constitution  like  that  of  France, 
October  17,  1800,  with  a  President  to  be  chosen 
every  three  months. 

Both  Dutch  Chambers  rejected  it.  The  sub- 
servient Dutch  Directory  expelled  them  from 
their  halls. 

The  Constitution  was  then  submitted  to  a  ple- 
biscit.  Of  the  416,419  citizens  who  were  voters, 
52,219  voted  against  it  ;  the  rest  did  not  vote  at 
all ;  their  silence  was  counted  as  consent  ;  the 
Constitution  was  proclaimed  as  adopted.  Holland 
was  helpless.  It  was  compelled  to  submit.  Bona- 
parte announced  this  fraudulent  instrument  as 
"the  expressed  will  of  an  independent  people."* 

In  1 80 1  another  change  gave  the  executive  power 

•  Bonap.irtc  to  Legislative  Body,  October,  1800. 


i88        Tin-:  woRLo's  greatest  conflict. 

to  a  college  of  twelve  persons,  the  legislative  to 
thirty-five  persons,  to  assemble  twice  each  year. 
This  form,  introduced  with  difficulty,  produced 
continual  party  contests. 

Holland  and  Belgium,  long  the  victims  of  Spanish 
misrule,  had  been  for  generations  tyrannized  by  the 
house  of  Austria,  whose  only  claim  was  heredity. 
It  was  as  liberators  that  the  French  army  appeared 
in  1795.  It  was  from  the  foreign  power  of  Aus- 
tria that  the  French  rescued  them.  Up  to  1800 
France  had  no  conquest  of  the  Dutch  and  Belgi- 
ans themselves,  nor  of  the  Italians.  It  was  in 
favor  of  the  former  Austrian  unloved  oppressor 
that  George  and  Pitt,  disregarding  the  advice  of 
great  British  statesmen,  made  their  bloody  inter- 
ference in  1 793-1 802  and  1805.  But  England 
then  had  not  a  representative  parliament. 

In  early  times  the  Romans  noticed  the  weaving 
and  love  of  trade  of  Belgium.  [Gallia  Belgica.] 
The  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  saw  it  dis- 
tinguished for  industry.  After  1492  Antwerp 
took  the  lead,  and  was  regarded  as  a  northern 
Venice.  The  terribly  oppressive  Spanish  fanatic 
rule,  with  its  cruel  wars  in  recognition  of  the  bar- 
barism that  a  monarch  owns  his  people  and  has 
divine  right  to  rule,  destroyed  its  great  prosperity  ; 
its  important  river,  the  Scheldt,  was  actually  closed 
to  navigation  ;  it  was  a  beneficent  result  of  the 
French  Revolution  that  it  restored  its  natural  uses. 
Napoleon  restored  and  greatly  enlarged   the  im- 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  1 89 

portant  harbor  of  Antwerp.  Belgium  only  learned 
the  English  mode  of  smelting  iron  with  coke  in 
1816;  now  for  iron  it  ranks  next  to  England. 

LIV. 

FOR  three  years  ending  with  December,  1795, 
the     Bank    of     England    notes    averaged 
;^i  1,975,573.     December,    1800,  it    had   risen    to 
£  1 5,450,070,  a  very  great  excess  above 
its  former  average  before  suspension         Money. 
of   specie.     In    the  height    of   bread 
famine,  1801,  a  reduction  of  ;^  1,500,000  was  made. 
Its  bills  are  the   principal  means  of   payments. 
So  this  strange  reduction,  made  because  the  min- 
istry had  forced  its  credit,  added  to  the  horrors  of 
famine,  by  lack  of  currency. 

LV. 

THAT    famine    year,    less   distilled   and    fer- 
mented liquors  were  used  ;  about  half  the 
amount    of    1803    or    1851.     The    kingdom    used 
8,800,840  gallons  — about  a  half-gallon 
a  head  ;    the    Irish    alone    used    less         Liquors, 
than  a   third  of   a   gallon   per  head, 
which  indicates  that  the  Irish  were  then  less  in- 
temperate than  their  neighbors.     In  all  countries, 
at   that   period,  alcoholic  liquors  were   used  as  a 
beverage. 


IQO  THE    world's    GREATEST   CONFLICT. 


LVI. 

LUNEVILLE  peace  (February  9,   1801)  left 
France    no    enemy    but     Great     Britain. 
Bonaparte    prepared    his    gunboat   fleet   at    Bou- 
logne.    He  would  compel  Italy,  Hol- 
invasion.        land,  Spain  and  Portugal  to  aid  him. 
Britain  held  the  channel.  That  was  her 
safety.     Lost  even  for  a  few  days,  the  French  army 
might  cross  ;  it  would  be  a  gigantic  struggle,  with 
ages  of  rivalry  to  sharpen  the  tremendous  contest. 
The  British  ministry  chose  to  continue  the  war 
against   Bonaparte ;    they  believed  that   England 
was  struggling,  not  for  victory  merely,  but  for  her 
very  existence.     It  was  also  the  rivalry  that  had 
continued  for  centuries  ;  Englishmen  and  French 
against  each  other. 


LVII. 

BONAPARTE    prompted    Spain   to   war   on 
Portugal,  February  22,  1801.     Naples  had 
to  shut  out  English  ships.     Spain  held  all  South 
America   except   Brazil    and   part   of 
Bad  Charles      Guiaua,  all  North  America  west  of 
the  Fourth.       thc    Mississippi,    and    Florida,   Cuba 
and    other    countries.     Yet    Charles 
gave  to  Bonaparte,  Parma,  five  ships  of  war,  a  large 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  I9I 

sum  of  money  and  Louisiana,  in  exchange  for  the 
title  "  King  of  Etruria  "  for  his  son-in-law,  the  boy 
duke  of  Parma.  It  was  a  treacherous  deed,  a 
crime,  an  embezzlement.  For  this  Charles  also 
agreed  to  close  Portugal  to  English  trade. 

The  new  boy  king  was  a  simple  lad,  and  Bona- 
parte ruled  Etruria  just  as  before ;  so  he  got 
Spain's  property  for  nothing,  and  Spain  got  noth- 
ing but  the  disgrace.  Tuscany  did  not  belong  to 
Bonaparte  or  to  France  ;  he  had  traded  what  was 
not  his  ;  he  offered  to  give  Lucca  also,  which  was 
not  his,  to  this  boy  for  three  of  Spain's  frigates,  and 
si.x  "ships  of  war  well  equipped,"  thus  to  sell 
another  independent  State.*  This  Bonaparte, 
head  of  a  so-called  Republic,  had  made  a  king ! 


LVIIL 

BRITAIN  was  first  in  commerce,  the  United 
States  next.     The  American-British  trade 
was  then,  as  now,  the  richest  trade  in  the  world. 
In    1 80 1   the   United    States    were 

but      sixteen,     with       about      4,500,000       commerce  and 

whites  and  1,000,000  colored  persons  ;       Population, 
about  one  third  of  the  16,319,444  of 
Great   Britain  and   Ireland,  or  a  little  above  half 
Spain's    10,600,000,    or    Prussia's    9,500,000,    one 
fifth  of  France's  27,349,000,  or  Austria's  27,600,000. 

*  Bonaparte,  to  Talleyrand,  March  2,  1801. 


192  THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

The  square  miles  of  area  of  the  United  States 
was  820,000,  more  than  doubled  by  purchase  of  Lou- 
isiana Territory  in  1803,  with  930,928  ;  increased  by 
Florida  from  Spain  in  1819  with  59,270;  Texas 
in  1845  with  247,000;  by  occupying"  Oregon  in 
1803-6  with  280,42$  ;  by  California,  Arizona,  New 
Mexico  and  part  of  Colorado  and  Utah  in  1848- 
1852  with  677,260;  and  by  Alaska  from  Russia 
in  1867  ^vith  577,390  to  its  present  magnitude  of 
3,603,844  square  miles. 

Our  exports  were  one  half  those  of  Britain  and 
Ireland  ;  $93,020,573  against  $182,500,000  ;  to  have 
been  in  the  same  proportion  to  population,  theirs 
should  have  been  $300,000,000.  America's  were 
per  head  one  and  one  half  greater  than  theirs.  But 
we  imported  twenty  per  cent,  or  $18,342,938  more 
than  we  exported,  and  our  coin  went  abroad  in 
payment  of  difference,  to  the  great  damage  of 
home  business. 

In  1803  Britain  had  nine  months  of  peace,  and 
their  exports  shot  up  to  $200,000,000;  but  with 
war  in  1803  they  dropped  below  $150,000,000, 
and  our  ships  carried  part  of  that. 

Our  cotton  crop  was  ;;^48,ooo,ooo  against 
2,000,000  in  1 79 1. 

New  England  had  six  colleges,  the  other  ten 
States  had  sixteen. 

During  war  much  commerce  of  Europe  was 
done  on  American  ships  because,  being  neutral, 
they    were   less   liable   to   capture.     By  the   war 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  I93 

British  ships  were  shut  out  of  much  of  Europe. 
America  had  little  to  sell  except  raw  material,  be- 
cause we  had  little  tariff  protection  to  produce 
factories.  Our  ships  carried  for  English  mer- 
chants to  the  continent,  where  English  ships 
would  have  been  seized. 

LIX. 

MANUFACTURES  were  England's  strong- 
est support  that   sustained    her  through 
the  terrible  years  of  that  long  war,  that  kept  her 
from  bankruptcy.    America,  with  half 
the  population  of    Britain,    produced        Manufac- 
little,    and  was    flooded    with  English 
goods  which    drained    it   of   specie. 

Denmark's  tonnage  in  West  India  trade  was  but 
about  9000.  France  had  lost  much  of  its  shipping, 
and  with  Spain  and  Holland  was  almost  limited  to 
coast  trade.  In  1800  Bonaparte  professed  the 
doctrine  that  the  flag  protects  the  ship,  but  he 
violated  it  whenever  he  could  with  advantage,  for 
America  had  but  the  barest  shadow  of  navy  to  pro- 
tect our  shii)s.  England,  with  a  great  navy,  was 
the  most  powerful  nation  on  the  seas. 

luigland  and  Russia  agreed  to  restrain  "  emi- 
grants "  (Bourbons  and  Poles)  ;  to  division  of 
plunder  in  Germany  ;  to  keep  Austria  and  Prussia 
in  balance  ;  to  help  Bavaria  and  VVurtemberg  to 
German  spoils  ;  and  to  be  friendly  to  the  "  king 
of  Sardinia." 


194     ^'^^^    WORLDS  GREATEST  CONFLICT. 


LX. 


BONAPARTE  wished  to  secure  to  himself 
the  monarchy  hereditary  in  his  family. 
He  meant  to  extend  the  boundaries  of  France 
and  to  support  it  by  neighboring 
Italy,  1801.  monarchies  under  his  control,  and  so 
amalgamated  with  his  own  dynasty 
that  they  must  be  vitally  interested  to  support 
him  and  his  house. 

A  so-called  Executive  Committee  of  three  mem- 
bers assisted  by  a  legislative  Consulta,  appeared 
at  the  head  of  the  Cisalpine  Republic  in  Italy. 
All  of  them  were  nominated  by  Bonaparte.  They 
all  obeyed  his  orders.  He  resolved  to  govern  Italy 
in  a  manner  differing  from  his  governing  of  Paris. 
He  invited  to  Lyons,  in  France,  the  most  distin- 
guished citizens  of  the  Cisalpine  State,  the  execu- 
tive committee  of  Milan,  judges  of  several  tribu- 
nals, deputies  from  the  bishops,  the  academies,  the 
artists,  the  army,  the  government  departments, 
national  guards  and  chambers  of  commerce,  one 
from  each  of  the  forty  cities,  and  one  hundred  and 
forty-eight  other  Italians,  named  by  himself — in 
all  four  hundred  and  fifty-two. 

Bonaparte  sent  Talleyrand  to  exercise  on  these 
visitors  the  arts  of  hospitality,  conversation  and 
amiability,  and  to  amuse  them  with   the  idea  of 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  1 95 

an  Italian  Republic,  which  had  a  ready  charm  for 
Italians. 

They  wanted  an  Italian  at  their  head.  Bona- 
parte was  a  born  Italian.  He  meant  to  receive 
the  sovereign  power.  But  the  Italians  had  a  fear 
of  becoming  French  subjects.  He  would  use 
trickery  to  obtain  the  power.  The  old  army  of 
Italy  had  come  from  Egypt.  To  impress  the 
Italians  he  would  cause  a  great  display.  He 
ordered  that  army  to  Lyons.  As  was  arranged, 
this  army  and  the  populace  hailed  him  with  great 
acclamations  on  his  arrival,  January  ii,  1802. 
The  Italians  were  charmed  with  the  display,  the 
courtesies  and  the  honors  shown  them. 

It  was  urged  that  Italy  required  the  protecting 
care  of  one  whose  name  and  power  might  throw 
over  the  infancy  of  its  Republic  a  splendor  that 
should  accelerate  its  manhood. 

Bonacossi,  one  of  the  Italian  delegates,  says 
that  on  the  26th  Bonaparte  reviewed  the  army  of 
Egypt.  People  went  out  of  town  to  see  the  spec- 
tacle. In  the  absence  of  many  members,  Talley- 
rand hastily  caused  a  meeting,  as  had  been  previ- 
ously arranged  with  Melzi's  party,  to  take  the 
important  vote  that  Bonaparte  should  be  Presi- 
dent of  the  new  republic  for  ten  years,  and  should 
then  be  eligible  to  re-election.  Instead  of  collect- 
ing the  votes,  he  caused  one  side  to  stand  u]i, 
while  the  other  remained  sitting,  thus  leaving  the 
decision    winch  had  a   majority  for  the  presiding 


196  THE    world's    greatest  -CONFLICT. 

officer  to  decide.  Great  was  the  astonishment  of 
the  other  members  when  they  heard  that  in  their 
absence  Bonaparte  had  been  chosen  President. 

For  fifteen  days  Bonaparte  had  interested  and 
flattered  the  Italians  by  his  amiable  appearance, 
by  his  splendor,  by  his  apparent  wisdom.  The 
French,  on  their  part,  were  delighted  to  feel  that 
Italy's  national  assembly  was  held  in  France. 

An  Italian  was  seemingly  put  in  power  to  repre- 
sent the  President.  This  was  Melzi,  an  old  court- 
ier, who  could  never  become  dangerous,  and  had 
manners  of  dignity,  politeness  and  vivacity. 

LXI. 

THIS  "  Italian  Republic  "  was  to  be  practically 
a  monarchy  ;    the  Paris-Lyons  constitution 
was  in  part  dictated  by  Bonaparte.     No  laws  were 
admissible    except    those    proposed   by 
The  Italian   him.     Thcrc  wcrc,  a  Council  of  State, 
^''^   "^'    a     Legislative    Body     and     Ministers. 
Only  seven  hundred  Italians  could  vote. 
Three  hundred  land  owners,  two  hundred  men  of 
learning  and  science  and  two  hundred  traders  or 
manufacturers,   chosen    by  the    citizens,  were    to 
nominate    the    Council    of    State  and    elect   the 
Legislative  Body    of    seventy-five    members,    one 
third  to  be  renewed  every  two  years.     They  must 
assemble   for   two  months  each  year.     The  laws 
must  be  uniform  for  all   parts  of  the  state.     The 
Catholic  religion  was  established,  but  all   creeds 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     I97 

were  tolerated.  The  Italian  Republic  was  required 
to  raise,  pay  and  feed  troops  for  the  new  President, 
and  permit  a  French  army  in  their  country  and  its 
fortresses.  But  they  were  freed  from  the  odious 
Austrian  system  ;  they  could  throw  off  the  fetters 
of  the  Middle  Ages  ;  they  could  speak  openly  to- 
gether ;  they  had  the  appearance  of  liberty  of 
speech  and  of  the  press.  In  the  army  they  might 
hope  to  gain  distinction,  never  possible  to  them 
under  Austria.  Caprice  did  not  usurp  the  place 
of  law  as  formerly,  and  although  Bonaparte's  policy 
was  annoying  and  oppressive,  it  did  not  carry  off 
Italians  to  immure  them  in  distant  prisons.  The 
ministers  were  responsible,  but  Bonaparte  was 
their   master. 

The  Ligurian  Republic  (Genoa)  was  reorganized, 
to  prepare  for  union  with  France,  which  came 
three  years  later.  In  June,  1802,  the  Ligurian 
Senate  gave  Bonaparte  the  privilege  of  appointing 
its  Doge.  Liberty  and  equality  of  civil  rights 
were  the  basis  of  its  constitution,  which  lasted 
only  till  1802. 

Democracy  in  Italy  was  ended.  The  middle 
and  upper  classes  had  a  limited  franchise  and  jury 
trials  in  criminal  cases  ;  tenure  of  judges  during 
life  or  good  behavior  were  provided. 

The  government  named  the  bishops  who  ap- 
pointed the  priests  subject  to  its  approval. 


198  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 


LXII. 

THE  old  debt  of  France  had  been  disowned. 
The  new  debt  had  reached  1,375,000,000 
francs  ($270,000,000).  The  French  revenue,  in- 
cluding the  Rhine  provinces,  Belgium, 
The  hand  of  Gcncva  and  Piedmont,  was  about 
the  Consul.  c)oo,ooo,ooo  fraucs  (nearly  $180, 000,- 
000),  of  which  the  foreign  possessions 
gave  about  two  ninths  (about  $40,000,000). 

Bonaparte's  police  surveillance  was  despotic. 
There  were  plenty  of  sycophants.  His  acts  were 
praised  in  extravagant  terms  ;  pompous  boasting 
was  common.  But  when  the  word  "subjects" 
was  used  by  him  in  the  Russian  treaty,  it  created 
a  storm  of  anger.  So  did  his  proposal  to  estab- 
lish a  Legion  of  Honor,  the  law  for  which  was 
passed  by  a  small  majority  (March  2,  1802). 

He  anticipated  by  several  months  the  legal  re- 
tirement of  one  fifth  of  the  Tribunate,  thus  render- 
ing that  body  more  submissive,  that  the  Concor- 
dat, opposed  by  many,  might  be  ratified. 

Public  and  private  morals  had  suddenly  retro- 
graded. The  Dark  Ages,  when  it  was  assumed  that 
the  sovereign  owned  the  state  as  his  own  private 
property,  seemed  to  have  returned.  Distinguished 
republicans  such  as  Bernadotte,  Lannes,  Jourdan 
and  Augereau,  had  no  other  choice  but  to  serve 
Bonaparte  or  retire  into  exile. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  IQQ 


Bonaparte  fell  rapidly  into  the  customs  and 
usages  of  royalty.  The  court  dresses  and  the 
absurd  courtly  usages  of  the  eighteenth  century 
were  adopted  by  many.  Consuls  Lebrun  and 
Cambaceres  made  themselves  ridiculous  by  these 
absurdities.  The  latter,  once  a  violent  Jacobin, 
now  covered  with  orders  and  ribbons,  strutted 
like  a  peacock  up  and  down  the  Palais  Royal. 
Public  repugnance  against  this  folly  was  vehement. 

Without  an  equal  as  a  soldier,  Consul  Bona- 
parte governed  wisely,  strongly.  His  hand  was 
heavy,  but  firm  and  guiding.  France  saw  prosper- 
ity returning,  and,  wearied  with  instability  and 
cruelty,  submitted.  His  measures  were  not  all 
popular ;  Paris  and  the  army  did  not  like  his  res- 
toration of  the  church,  but  the  devout  peasants  re- 
joiced in  it.  He  promoted  higher  learning,  but 
not  the  education  of  the  people  ;  he  improved  and 
equalized  the  modes  of  taxation  ;  he  made  roads 
and  canals  ;  erected  many  buildings ;  permitted 
banished  persons  to  return  and  restored  their  un- 
sold property.  French  law  varied  in  different 
localities  —  sometimes  damagingly  so;  he  aided 
the  adoption  of  a  uniform  code.  Everywhere  he 
acted  with  the  spirit  that  inspired  energy.  He 
suppressed  the  freedom  of  the  press  ;  he  organized 
Fouch(:'s  police  ;  he  sup])lcmented  it  with  three 
other  separate  systems  of  spies  and  police ;  he 
established  special  tribunals,  arbitrary  and  sum- 
mary, appointed  by  himself. 


200  THK    world's   GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

Ill  1800  he  appointed  able  jurists  to  form  a  code 
common  to  all  France. 

No  one  ventured  to  speak  the  truth  ;  scientific 
works,  newspapers,  histories,  all  speeches,  ad- 
dresses, reports  of  the  men  he  employed,  were 
composed  in  the  style  of  the  degenerate  pagan 
Romans  of  Caesar's  time.  Over  the  world  swept 
a  Roman  craze.  For  years  after,  art  was  debased. 
Even  Protestant  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  London,  and 
the  Republican  Capitol  at  Washington,  are  de- 
faced with  still  later  statues  of  our  own  modern 
Christian  heroes,  who  appear  either  as  naked  as 
savages  or  scantily  unclothed  in  the  bad  taste  of 
imitating  Pagan  Rome. 

To  conciliate  the  emigres  Bonaparte  promised, 
by  decree  of  the  Senate,  to  all  not  yet  arrived, 
who  should  return  before  1803,  take  the  oath  of 
fidelity  to  the  Constitution,  renounce  all  places, 
pensions,  titles  from  foreign  powers,  and  quietly 
submit  for  ten  years  to  the  particular  superintend- 
ence of  the  government,  to  restore  their  unsold 
property.  This  amnesty  excepted  those  who  had 
acted  as  officers  in  an  enemy's  army,  or  had  ex- 
cited war,  civil  or  foreign,  against  the  Republic  ; 
all  commanders  who  had  committed  treason  and 
prelates  who  had  not  resigned  as  required  by  the 
Concordat. 

His  own  wife  Josephine  and  her  daughter 
Hortense  belonged  to  the  old  style  and  its  usages. 
He  could  hardly  expect  to  become  really  a  mon- 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     201 

arch  by  the  aid  of  republicans  and  democrats 
alone.  There  were  many  shades  of  opinion  ;  he 
must  have  the  support  of  various  and  conflicting 
elements  ;  he  must  conciliate  his  enemies. 

He  was  vehemently  opposed,  and  assailed  by 
the  talkers  in  the  Paris  salons  to  his  great  vexa- 
tion. He  was  establishing  an  order  widely  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  his  former  declarations. 


LXIII. 

WHEN  Jefferson  became  President,  March 
4,  1 80 1,  the  stately  formalities  of  previ- 
ous administrations   were  abolished.     Instead    of 
going,  escorted  by  both  bodies  of  Con- 
gress, to    the    Capitol    and    making        Fashions, 
speeches    to    them,    Jefferson    began  iSoi. 

the  method  of  sending  messages,  and 
he  refused    the    British   fashion   of  receiving    an 
address  in  reply. 

*  Radical  changes  were  making  in  dress  and  man- 
ners ;  trousers  were  taking  the  place  of  knee- 
breeches  ;  wigs  and  hair  powder  began  to  disap- 
pear. In  1795  ICngland  laid  a  tax  of  a  guinea  a  per- 
son on  the  use  of  hair  powder  ;  the  law  required 
that  it  be  only  of  starch  ;  tliis  tax  at  first  produced 
about  ;^20,oooa  year.  Cocked  hats  went  out  with 
hair  powder,  though  some  were  seen  as  late  as  1837. 

•  ChambcrK'-t  C'yclopardia,  Vol.  V.  p   731. 


202  TIIK    WORLII  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

*  Coats  of  the  eighteenth  century  were  of  silk, 
velvet,  satin  or  broadcloth  of  fanciful  colors.  A 
large  square-plated  buckle  was  in  style  in  1791, 
when  shoe-strings  were  coming  into  use.  In  1800 
petitions  were  sent  to  the  British  Parliament,  ask- 
ing that  the  use  of  shoe-strings  be  prohibited. 

It  was  in  a  wig,  with  the  queue  in  a  silk  bag, 
with  powdered  hair,  knee-breeches,  silk  stockings, 
buckles  at  the  knees  and  shoes,  and  wearing  a 
dress  sword,  that  Washington  was  inaugurated 
President  at  New  York,  in  1789. 

About  1790  cloth  came  into  general  wear,  the 
waistcoat  of  more  costly  material  and  embroidered. 

In  France  the  change  from  1789  to  1801  was 
greater  than  in  the  whole  previous  century.  The 
popular  common  class  dress  became  a  round  hat, 
short  coat,  light  waistcoat  and  trousers ;  a  hand- 
kerchief tied  loosely  round  the  neck,  with  flowing 
ends,  showing  the  shirt  collar  above,  the  hair 
short,  without  powder,  the  shoes  tied  with  strings. 
This  style  became  common  for  young  men  in  Eng- 
land ;  close-fitting  trousers  were  common  till  18 14. 
Before  1789  the  dress  of  boys  had  been  almost  like 
that  of  men  except  that  they  wore  trousers  earlier. 
In  England  white  neckcloths  held  their  own  until 
George  the  Fourth's  example  quickly  brought  in 
the  black  stock. 

•  Chambers's  Cyclopsedia,  Vol.  V.  p.  731. 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     203 


LXIV. 

CAMP-MEETINGS  and  religious  revivals  in 
America  had  begun  a  little  before  1800. 

The  Methodists  had  increased  from  316  in  1781, 
to  72,874  in   1 801.     In  Nova  Scotia, 
Newfoundland  and  the  West  Indies         Religion, 
they  numbered  13,667,  and  in  Europe  »8oi. 

109,961  ;  a  total  everywhere  of  196,502. 

Says  Jesse  Lee:  "Crowds  collected;  no  house 
could  hold  them  ;  ministers  preached  in  the 
woods.  Persons  were  struck  down  by  the  power 
of  God  and  lay  helpless  ;  after  awhile  people,  ex- 
pecting to  be  detained  all  night,  began  to  prepare 
tents  of  cloth  or  bushes  and  carried  provisions 
that  they  might  tarry  all  night,  keeping  up  the 
meeting  through  the  night  where  there  was  a  par- 
ticular manifestation  of  the  divine  presence." 
Methodists,*  Presbyterians  and  Baptists  united  to 
hold  these  meetings. 

He  speaks  of  "  a  good  work  of  God  "  in  Balti- 
more, and  "  in  Annapolis  was  a  very  great  display 
of  the  love  and  power  of  God,  and  many  souls  were 
converted. "t  In  1802  were  added  13,860  mem- 
bers in  America ;  tliey  had  seven  conferences. 
In  1801  they  took  in  Maine  as  two  circuits.  J     In 

*  l.cc'i  History  of  Methodists,  1810,  p.  280. 
t  Ibid  p.  279. 
:  Ibid  p.  28s. 


204  THE    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

1800  the  annual  allowance  of  traveling  preachers 
was  raised  from  sixty-four  dollars  to  eighty  dollars, 
and  traveling  expenses  and  all  presents  made  to 
him  and  the  same  to  his  wife.* 

In  May,  1801,  a  rule  was  adopted,  against  stren- 
uous opposition  by  Southern  preachers,  to  ordain 
colored  deacons  for  colored  churches.  Richard 
Allen  vv^as  the  first  colored  deacon  ever  ordained 
by  Methodists. 

Under  the  plan  of  Union  of  1801  hundreds 
of  Union  Presbyterian  and  Congregationalist 
churches  met,  with  a  pastor  of  either. 

Sunday  schools  scarcely  existed.  In  Massachu- 
setts and  Connecticut,  towns  settled  ministers  and 
paid  them  by  tax.  These  were  nearly  all  Federal- 
ists ;  in  newer  regions.  West  and  South,  most  of 
the  revival  preachers  were  Republicans.  Meeting- 
houses were  without  fires,  even  in  winter,  and  ser- 
mons and  prayers  were  frequently  too  long  to  ac- 
cord with  Matthew  vi.  7. 

In  1 80 1  Germans  discoursed  well  of  religion, 
metaphysics  and  science,  illy  of  politics  ;  English- 
men acutely  of  trade,  admirably  in  literature, 
badly  in  politics ;  Frenchmen  cautiously  in  re- 
ligion, with  a  manifest  disposition  to  take  a  rest 
in  political  discussion  ;  Americans  were  excited 
in  politics,  but  gaining  in  religion  ;  f  Russians 
were  standing  silent;  Italians  were  full  of  hope, 

•  Lee's  History  of  Methodists,  1810,  p.  267. 
t  Goodrich's  U.  S. 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     20$ 

political,  social  and  religious ;  Austria  seemed 
disposed  to  do  its  thinking  with  its  bayonets; 
Prussia  watched  its  chance  to  seize  German  terri- 
tory whenever  it  could  do  so  without  much  risk  ; 
Turkey,  Denmark  and  Sweden  looked  on  to  see 
what  next  ;  Portugal  tried  to  trim  between  Eng- 
land and  Bonaparte;  and  Spain  tried  to  be  on 
both  sides  of  political  struggles. 

Strict  censorship  of  the  press  existed  in  Ger- 
many and  France ;  England's  right  of  habeas 
corpus  was  suspended  ;  there  was  no  liberty  else- 
where in  Europe. 

Then  it  was  that  America  repealed  her  law,  re- 
stricting the  liberty  of  speech  and  of  the  press,  as 
England's  people  too  would  have  gladly  restored 
the  habeas  corpus. 

Dalton's  Experimental  Essays  first  directed  the 
attention  of  Guy  Lussac  to  chemical  physics. 

The  German  philosopher  Hegel  published  his 
first  work. 

The  poems  of  the  Scotchman,  James  Hogg,  first 
appeared. 

In  Germany  the  "  romantic  school  "  of  poets 
were  writing  their  religio-aisthetic  poems. 

In  Spain  Dc  Los  Hcflos,  the  most  popular  mod- 
ern poet,  and  Scrafin  Caldcron,  were  just  born. 
Walter  Scott  was  already  well  known  as  a  poet. 
Robert  Burns  (July  21,  1796),  Hugh  lilair  (July 
7,  1797)  and  William  Cowper  had  lately  died. 

In   179S   Canning  had   made  his  reputation  as 


2o6        nil'.  woKi.n's  (ikkatest  conflict. 

an  anti-slavery  orator.  Galvanism  had  just  been 
heard  of  in  England. 

In  1 80 1  Plazzi  discovered  the  first-known  as- 
teroid, January  i. 

Lavater,  the  physiognomist,  died  of  wounds  at 
Zurich. 

Martial  law  continued  in  Ireland. 

Bonaparte  deported  one  hundred  and  thirty  re- 
publicans, accused  but  not  proven  to  have  taken 
part  in  the  "  infernal  machine  "  plot  to  destroy 
him.  This  machine  exploded  in  the  street,  broke 
the  glass  of  his  carriage,  December  25,  1800.  It 
was  a  Royalist  plot.  To  injure  the  Jacobins,  he 
charged  it  to  them. 

In  Germany,  Fuerbach,  a  jurist,  found  support- 
ers in  the  idea  that  the  decision  of  a  judge  in 
penal  cases  should  always  be  in  strict  conformity 
to  law  without  discretion.  In  1813  he  planned 
the  penal  code  of  Bavaria. 

The  Servians  revolted  against  Turkey,  elected 
Czerny  their  prince,  and,  aided  by  Russia,  main- 
tained their  liberty  for  several  years. 

The  British  Admiral,  Nelson,  attacked  Bona- 
parte's flotilla  at  Boulogne,  in  August,  without 
success. 

A  great  event  of  the  year  was  the  signing, 
October  i,  of  the  preliminaries  of  peace  after 
eleven  years  of  war.  The  terms  left  all  as  when 
war  began  except  that  England  held  Surinam  and 
Trinidad,  taken  from   the   Spanish,  and  the  very 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     207 

important  island  of  Ceylon,  taken  from  the  Dutch, 
with  its  fine  harbor,  and  Trincomalee,  extremely- 
important  to  India. 


LXV. 

BONAPARTE,  now  the  strong  head  of  France, 
addressed  a  letter,  December  26,  1799,  to 
George  the  Third,  urging  a  peace.  But  George 
and  his  advisers  did  not  desire  peace 
unless  they  could  dictate  terms  to  Bonaparte's 
France  and  the  world.  The  English  Letter  of  Dec. 
are  distinguished  for  generous  terms  26, 1799- 
of  peace.  Yet  George  the  Third's 
minister,  Lord  Grenville,  insolently  replied,  Janu- 
ary 4,  1800,*  to  the  French  minister  that  France 
desired  the  "extermination  of  all  established  gov- 
ernments," that  "  the  most  solemn  treaties  have 
only  prepared  the  way  for  fresh  aggression,"  his 
Majesty  could  not  "place  reliance  on  the  mere  re- 
newal of  general  professions  of  pacific  disposi- 
tions." He  required  to  be  convinced  "that  after 
the  experience  of  so  many  years  of  crimes  and 
miseries,  better  principles  have  ultimately  pre- 
vailed in  France.  The  best  guarantee  for  the 
reality  and  permanence  of  the  pacific  intentions  of 
the  French  government  would  be  the  restoration 
of  that  royal  dynasty  which  has  maintnined  for  so 

•  Whij;. 


208  THE    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

many  ages  the  internal  prosperity  of  France  and 
made  it  regarded  with  respect  and  consideration 
abroad.  Such  an  event  would  clear  away  all  ob- 
stacles which  hinder  negotiations  for  peace;  it 
would  insure  to  France  the  tranquil  possession  of 
her  ancient  territory,  and  it  would  give  to  all  the 
nations  of  Europe  that  security  which  they  are 
compelled  to  seek  at  present  by  other  means." 

This  rude  refusal  to  try  to  make  peace,  this 
language,  both  stupid  and  malicious,  was  a  formal, 
official  notice  to  France  that  there  could  never  be 
peace  until  France,  as  a  conquered  country,  should 
accept  the  return  of  the  odious  and  incapable 
Bourbons,  whose  long  misrule  had  kept  the  nation 
for  ages  distressed,  and  had  thus  qualified  the 
revolutionists  for  the  extravagant  bursts  of  fero- 
city and  disgust  with  which  they  had  flung  from 
them  this  worthless  dynasty.  It  meant  that 
George  wished  to  force  upon  France  his  own,  not 
her  choice  of  rulers.  His  statement  that  the  Bour- 
bons maintained  "internalprosperity  of  France"  was 
not  truth.     Intelligent  England  did  not  believe  it. 

Who  can  doubt  that,  had  the  Bourbons  and  the 
noblesse  exercised  common  fairness  and  justice 
towards  the  industrious  French  workers,  who  are 
in  France,  as  in  every  country,  the  only  pro- 
ducing class,  the  people  would  not  have  been 
goaded  to  revolution,  and  cruelties  would  never 
have  occurred,  for  the  French  would  have  been  a 
contented  people. 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     2O9 

So  George,  who  had  already  twice  treated  with 
the  Directory  for  peace,  refused  to  discuss  the 
subject  with  Bonaparte,  and  thus  left  him  no 
choice  but  to  continue  the  war  with  all  its  evils. 
Thus  great  responsibility  rests  upon  George.  The 
language  of  that  reply  was  unlike  the  courteous 
English  ;  it  was  rude,  offensive,  impolitic.  Many 
Englishmen  condemned  it.  Addington  said  it 
was  "  too  caustic  and  opprobrious."  Wilberforce 
was  shocked  by  it ;  Cornwallis  spoke  of  it  as  "  un- 
provoked insolence,"  and  as  "haughty  and  most 
unwise." 

A  violent  debate  in  Parliament  ensued.  Fox 
was  roused  ;  he  made  a  great  speech  for  peace. 
Pitt  represented  the  insecurity  of  a  peace  with  the 
violator  of  so  many  Italian  treaties.  P'ox  was  in  a 
minority  of  sixty-four.  George,  hater  of  Catho- 
lics, prepared  to  aid  the  Catholic  royalist  revolt  in 
Vendee. 

Yet  England  was  in  distress. 

An  importation  of  grain  turned  the  balance  of 
trade  against  England.  The  gold  and  silver  de- 
monetized, had  been  exported  to  pay  foreign  sub- 
sidies and  to  buy  food.  The  scarcity  of  crops  for 
two  years  (i 80 1-2)  raised  prices  just  when  the 
banks'  arbitrary  restrictions  of  loans  decreased  the 
facilities  for  procuring  money. 

In  the  summer  of  1802  the  amount  of  the  Bank  of 
England  notes  in  circulation  was  jCi6,y4y,T)00. 
Exchange  with  Hamburg  was  almost  sixteen  per 


210  THE    WORLDS    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

cent,  discount  against  England  !  In  May,  1803, 
the  additional  disadvantage  at  Dublin  was  a  dis- 
count of  about  sixteen  per  cent,  between  it  and 
London.  The  London  rate  expresses  the  deprecia- 
tion of  British  currency,  it  being  about  equal  to  the 
premium  on  silver  above  Bank  of  England  notes. 


LXVL 

FRENCH    law  had    introduced    military  con- 
scription,   September,    5,    1798.      Now    it 
helped  to  fill  the  army.     General  Melas,  who  com- 
manded the  Austrian  army  in  Italy, 
The  War  in       bcgau    the    Campaign    with    brilliant 
Italy.   i8cx3.       succcss.     Hc  wou  a  victory  over  the 
French    General  Massena  at  Voltri, 
April  10,  and  so  cut  the  French  army  in  two  as 
to   separate  Suchet's  corps,  and  drive  it  to  a  dis- 
tance   from    Massena,    whom    Melas    soon    after 
besieged  in   Genoa   and    compelled    to  surrender 
after   great    starvation    (June   5,   1800).       Fifteen 
thousand  Genoans  perished  by  famine  and  disease 
during  this  terribly  cruel  siege. 

General  Moreau,  with  a  French  army,  crossed 
the  Rhine,  April  25,  and  soon  after  defeated  the 
Austrians  under  Kray  in  several  battles. 

Bonaparte  quietly  formed  a  third  army,  with 
which  he  crossed  the  Alps  and  reached  Italy 
before  Melas  knew  of  its  existence.     Bonaparte 


THE  WORLDS  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     211 

was  beaten  at  Marengo,  but  Desaix  came  with 
re-enforcements  and  turned  the  defeat  into  a  com- 
plete victory,  which  compelled  the  Austrians  to 
evacuate  Italy  as  far  as  the  Mincio,  and  to  sign  an 
armistice.  Desaix  fell,  but  his  charge  won  from 
Austria  all  it  had  gained  in  1798-99.  The  truce 
stopped  Moreau,  who  had  taken  Munich,  and  was 
pushing  on  victoriously  towards  Vienna. 

Europe  wanted  peace.  Russia,  as  anxious  not 
to  establish  an  Austro-German  supremacy  as  she 
had  been  in  1798-99  to  weaken  the  growing  power 
of  France,  had  withdrawn  from  the  Austro-English 
coalition  as  soon  as  they  were  successful  in  1799. 

Austria  was  held  back  from  making  peace  only 
by  her  English  subsidy  treaty.  Thus  George  com- 
pelled the  resumption  of  war  that  recovered  Italy 
for  France.  Moreau  crushed  the  Austrian  army 
at  Hohenlindcn,  December  2,  1800.  The  English 
took  Malta.  When  the  bloody  bargain  between 
George  and  Austria  expired,  the  war  between  Aus- 
tria and  France  ended  in  the  Peace  of  Luncville, 
F"ebruary  9,  1801. 

Austria  ceded  Belgium  to  France,  with  all  the 
left  bank  of  the  Rhine. 

In  Italy  the  line  between  Austria  and  the  Cis- 
alpine Republic  was  fixed  at  the  Adige,  and  the 
cities  of  Verona  and  Legnano  were  divided.  Tlie 
Grand  Duke  of  Modcna  got  Brisgau  in  exchange 
for  his  duchy,  and  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany 
had  Salzburg  and  other  places  instead  of  Tuscany 


212  THE    WORLDS    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

which  Bonaparte  sold  to  foolish  Charles  the  Fourth, 
King  of  Spain,  to  be  given  to  the  puppet  Duke  of 
Parma,  a  creature  of  Bonaparte's, 


LXVII. 

THE  overthrow  of  the  old  Helvetic  Confed- 
eracy, in  1798,  was  a  crime  of  the  French 
Directory.      The    new    Swiss    Constitution,    non- 
federative,  was,  like  that   of  France, 
Switzerland,      made    by    the     French    party,    May 
30,    1798,    supported    by    a    French 
army  and  force.     The   Orisons   evaded   it   by  re- 
ceiving an  Austrian  army.     Not  till  1799  did  they 
lose  independence.     Then  France  took  from  the 
Swiss,  Mulhousen,  Geneva  and  part  of  Basle,  and 
forced  upon  them  an  alliance  offensive  and  defen- 
sive (August  19,  1799). 

The  Swiss  had  to  renounce  their  glorious  neutral- 
ity, so  well  maintained  for  centuries  as  the  safe- 
guard of  Swiss  liberty.  Union  and  local  rights 
parties  were  now  at  war.  January,  1800,  Dolder's 
revolt  overthrew  the  new  Directory,  and  attempted 
anew  Swiss  Constitution.  Opposition,  aided  by 
France,  made  counter  revolt,  August  7,  1800. 
Aristocracy  against  democracy,  and  Bonaparte 
stimulating  trouble  so  as  to  find  pretext  to  inter- 
fere. He  wished  to  appear  as  dictator  as  soon  as 
peace  with  England  should  come. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  21  ^ 

Aristocracy  would  serve  his  purpose  better  than 
freedom  and  union  of  feeling.  It  would  require 
his  aid.  A  free  republic  would  be  self-defensive, 
supported  by  patriotism.  This  was  not  what  he 
wanted.  He  sent  an  outline  of  a  Constitution.  In 
May,  1801,  another  revolt  used  this  outline  altered 
to  the  old  Canton  system.  It  was  laid  before  the 
Assembly.  IMany  deputies,  enraged,  withdrew, 
led  by  Alois  Reding.  Six  Alpine  cantons  aided 
the  seceders  (Grisons). 

Their  boldness  alarmed  the  Centrals  ;  they  de- 
feated the  Centrals'  troops  ;  Zurich  favored  Swiss 
freedom,  so  the  Centrals  bombarded  it.  It  hold 
out  and  Reding's  party  routed  the  Centrals'  troops, 
took  Berne,  the  capital,  and  were  hailed  with 
joy  by  the  people. 

The  French  separated  Valais  into  what  they 
called  a  republic.  Bonaparte  hoped,  by  compli- 
cating affairs,  to  be  called  in  by  both  parties  and 
keep  Austria  from  charging  him  with  violating  his 
Lunevillc  pledge  to  let  the  Swiss  alone  to  arrange 
their  government. 

Bonaparte  insisted  that  recent  changes  be 
annulled.     England  objected  to  his  interference. 

The  remainder  of  the  Assembly,  left  by  the 
seceders,  held  on  till  October,  when  the  Bonapart- 
ists  made  a  Constitution  from  their  chief's  model, 
dissolved  the  Assembly,  chose  a  .senate,  and  luld 
power  till  it  chose  a  new  Council,  which  in  turn 
put   Reding,  the  head  of  opposition,  in  full  execu- 


214  THE    world's    GREATEST   CONFLICT. 

tive  power  —  a  strange  situation.  Bonaparte  was 
surprised.  To  permit  this  would  make  the  Swiss 
free,  and  would  defeat  his  designs  on  that  country. 

Reding  went  to  Paris  to  arrange  with  him. 
Bonaparte  would  yield  nothing.  He  compelled 
Reding  to  take  into  his  council  six  of  his  Bona- 
partist  opponents.  These  dissolved  the  Senate, 
summoned  such  persons  as  they  chose,  who,  un- 
authorized by  the  Swiss,  deposed  Reding,  made 
what  they  called  a  constitution,  placed  a  Bonapart- 
ist,  Bolder,  at  the  head  of  affairs.  Then  the 
French  troops  marched  away.  Just  as  the  French 
had  foreseen  and  desired,  the  Swiss  rose  in  arms 
against  this  fraudulent  government.  Bonaparte 
wanted  pretext. 

Von  Erlack,  with  militia,  took  the  capital 
(Berne).  Reding  called  an  assembly,  at  Schwyz, 
in  form  of  the  old  Swiss  Diet.  Canton  after  can- 
ton joined.  The  false  government  was  compelled 
to  escape  into  Pays  du  Vaud.  The  old  free  gov- 
ernment was  set  up  by  the  armed  people.  Every- 
where was  contention,  bloodshed.  The  situation 
was  terrible. 

For  this  situation  Bonaparte  had  plotted.  He 
ordered  the  Swiss  to  submit.  The  Constitution 
should  be  settled  at  Paris.  He  sent  Ney  with  a 
French  army.  The  Diet  protested.  But  opposi- 
tion was  useless.  Switzerland  was  suppressed. 
The  Swiss  were  indignant.  Patriots  were  put  in 
prison.     Reding  said  to  the  French  officer  who 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     215 

arrested  him  :  "I  have  obeyed  the  call  of  con- 
science and  my  country." 

Bonaparte  was  scheming  to  annex  the  Valais  to 
France  ;  he  wanted  its  passes,  St.  Bernard  and 
Simplon,  the  gates  of  Italy. 

He  proclaimed  himself  mediator  of  Switzerland  ; 
he  declared  that  "  all  the  powers  will  be  dissolved. 
The  Senate  alone,  assembled  at  Berne,  will  send 
deputies  to  Paris  ;  each  canton  can  also  send  some  ; 
and  all  the  former  magistrates  can  come  to  Paris, 
to  make  known  the  means  of  restoring  union  and 
tranquillity  and  conciliating  all  parties." 

The  chiefs  of  the  Swiss  aristocracy  immediately 
joined  the  radical  deputies  at  Paris.  There  could 
be  no  long  discussion,  though  there  was  much  dis- 
agreement. Bonaparte  manifested  towards  these 
Swiss  notables,  nearly  sixty  in  number,  who  had 
gone  undelegated  to  Paris,  the  exceeding  amiabil- 
ity which  he  was  able  to  infuse  into  his  manners 
and  address,  the  condescension  expressed  in  his 
features  and  gestures  when  he  wished  to  please. 
He  delighted  them  by  plausibly  amiable  speeches 
and  affable  behavior. 

He  had  decided  upon  the  plan  of  a  Swiss  consti- 
tution. He  ostensibly  authorized  four  French 
senators  to  adjust  with  them  a  Federal  govern- 
ment. 

Bonaparte  gave  Switzerland  a  constitution  Feb- 
ruary II,  1803.  He  took  to  himself  the  title 
of  Protector  of  the   Republic.     However,  in  this 


2l6  THE   world's    GREATEST   CONFLICT. 

instrument  he  paid  a  greater  regard  to  the  habits 
and  wishes  of  the  people  than  was  expected  from 
his  arrogance. 

He  weakened  the  central  power,  as  the  Diet  of 
twenty-five  deputies  was  to  sit,  by  rotation,  in  the 
six  principal  cantons  ;  he  appointed  as  President 
a  patrician  (Affry).  The  Swiss  cantons,  free  in 
internal  government,  fell  as  a  state  under  the 
foreign  rule  of  France,  and  became  a  part  of 
Bonaparte's  strength  and  power. 

A  commission  of  seven,  appointed  by  Bonaparte 
and  assisted  by  Ney  with  a  French  army,  intro- 
duced this  newest  constitution.  April  15,  1803, 
Bonaparte  appointed  the  provisional  magistrates 
of  the  "  Republic  "  and  of  the  Cantons. 

A  war  tax  was  levied  for  the  support  of  the 
French  troops  to  November  20,  1802  (625,000 
francs).  Ney  required  the  Swiss  to  surrender 
their  arms,  which  he  carried  off  to  Valais. 

Bonaparte  compelled  a  treaty,  offensive  and  de- 
fensive, with  France  (1803).  Switzerland  was 
compelled  to  furnish  and  support  sixteen  thousand 
Swiss  for  Bonaparte's  army,  and  eight  thousand 
more  "  if  necessary." 

Reding  was  liberated.  He  sat  in  the  Diet  as 
member  for  Schwyz. 

The  French  army  retired.  But  Switzerland  was 
helpless  and  under  Napoleon's  control  until   1814. 


iiiK  world's  greatest  conflict.        217 


LXVIII. 

THOUGH  Louis  the  Fourteenth,  to  the  great 
damage  of  France,  persecuted  the  Protest- 
ants, he  vigorously  supported  French  rights  and 
his  own   authority  in  Church  affairs, 
against  the  Pope.     Among  their  dis-       concordat, 
putcs  was  the  noted  one  about  reve-  1801. 

nues  of  vacant  benefices  and  presen- 
tations to  benefices  by  the  King.  In  1673-75  ^''^ 
extended  his  right  to  provinces  till  then  exempt. 
The  Pope,  Innocent  the  Eleventh,  opposed.  Louis 
assembled  the  French  clergy  in  1682.  Besides  ex- 
tension of  royal  claim  to  Church  revenue  he  caused 
them  to  make  four  famous  propositions,  regarded 
as  the  basis  of  the  Gallican  Church. 

1.  The  power  of  the  Pope  extends  only  to 
things  spiritual,  and  has  no  concern  with  tem- 
poral matters. 

2.  The  authority  of  the  Pope  in  spiritual  affairs 
is  subordinate  to  a  general  council. 

3.  It  is  even  limited  by  the  canons,  the  cus- 
toms and  constitution  of  the  kingdom  and  the 
Gallican  Church. 

4.  In  matters  of  faith  the  Pope's  authority  is 
not  infallible. 

Hy  1797  worship  was  re-established  in  thirty-five 
thousand  parishes;  about  one  to  each  eight  hun- 


2i8        j'liK  world's  gkeatkst  conflict. 

dred  French  people.  The  people  paid  their  own 
priests.  These  were  divided  not  very  unequally 
between  priests  who  had  taken  the  French  oath  of 
allegiance,  and  those  who  refused  to  take  it.  Thus 
was  division.  Each  party  with  its  clergy  claimed 
to  be  the  Church  itself. 

The  Pope,  Pius  the  Seventh,  wanted  a  stronger 
hold  on  France  in  iSoi.  He  wanted  Romanism 
acknowledged  as  dominant  there.  He  wished  to 
end  division.  He  wanted  the  power  and  influence 
of  the  French  Government  for  it  as  the  national 
religion.  He  decided  to  accept  the  best  terms 
attainable. 

Bonaparte  desired  the  strength  of  the  Church  to 
aid  his  ambition.  Not  yet  Consul  for  life,  he  was 
scheming  for  the  empire.  Priests  might  aid  to 
prepare  the  way.  He  controlled  the  Pope.  Why 
not  through  him  rule  the  priests  }  The  French 
liberal  branch  of  the  Church  was  directed  by  ener- 
getic and  independent  men.  He  feared  it.  It 
might  not  be  docile.  He  decided  against  the 
French  national  idea;  he  determined  to  secure 
power  over  the  Church. 

He  made  the  famous  Concordat  of  July  15,  1801, 
with  Pius  the  Seventh.  In  return  for  a  decree 
protecting  the  Catholic  as  the  religion  "  of  the 
great  majority  of  the  French,"  and  a  promise  of 
salaries  from  the  Government  to  the  clergy,  the 
Pope  agreed  to  consecrate  such  bishops  as  the 
French  Government  should  nominate  ;  to  give  up 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     2ig 

claim  to  the  old  church  lands,  and  to  order  a  new 
prayer  for  the  Consuls,  to  whom  the  clergy  were 
to  take  oath  of  allegiance.  The  number  of  bishops 
was  reduced  to  forty-two,  with  nine  archbishops  ; 
about  half  the  old  number. 

Bonaparte  sent  the  treaty  to  the  Chambers  with 
"Organic  Articles,"  to  which  the  Pope  had  de- 
clined consent.  By  these,  the  basis  made  for 
teaching  in  seminaries  for  recruits  for  the  clergy, 
are  the  famous  articles  of  the  French  clergy  of 
1682  ;  priests  were  forbidden  to  accuse  individu- 
als or  other  churches  supported  by  the  State,  or  to 
publish  anything  unconnected  with  the  exercise  of 
their  religion.  As  he  had  secured  the  nomination 
of  bishops  and  cures,  he  left  the  appointment  of 
priests  to  them,  expecting  them  to  favor  such  as 
were  not  hostile  to  him.  He  appropriated  to  the 
Church  for  1803,  two  million  francs,  raised  in  181 1 
to  seventeen  million  francs. 

During  the  war  with  France  from  1793  to  1802 
the  British  navy  captured  or  destroyed  seventy- 
four  ships  of  the  line  and  five  hundred  and  nine- 
teen smaller  vessels,  besides  many  privateers. 
One  hundred  and  forty-four  of  the  captured  ves- 
sels were  added  to  the  l^ritish.  navy,  thus  increas- 
ing it  above  losses  ninety-three  vessels. 

Such  was  the  eagerness  to  steal  men  that  Brit- 
ish war  vessels  often  made  an  exciting  chase  and 
capture  of  British  privateers  in  order  to  press 
their  seamen  into  the  navy. 


220  THE    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 


Severe  flogging  was  common  in  both  army  and 
navy. 

The  war  had  continued  for  nine  years.  Great 
Britain  had  gained  but  one  of  the  objects  for  which 
George  and  Pitt  had  made  it  in  1793.  They  had 
begun  it  to  stop  the  spread  of  manhood  freedom  ; 
to  curb  the  ambition  of  Republican  France ;  to 
prop  the  thrones  of  imbecile  kings  ;  to  ruin  or  im- 
pair the  French  influence  in  Europe,  especially  in 
the  low  countries.  The  first  point  was  attained, 
but  it  was  Bonaparte  that  attained  it,  a  very  un- 
English  victory  in  its  opposition  to  liberty,  and 
liberty  had  disappeared  from  Europe.  George 
and  Pitt  had  really  powerfully  aided  to  consolidate 
the  power  of  Bonaparte  to  kill  freedom,  but  had 
lost  the  price  of  blood,  for  the  power  of  France 
was  immensely  extended,  its  frontier  carried  to 
the  Rhine,  the  Netherlands  still  more  firmly  held. 
England's  rivals,  Russia,  Prussia  and  Austria,  too 
were  increased. 

When  a  man  who  is  prominent  in  a  civilization 
or  in  an  age,  brings  on  unnecessary  war  or  other 
crime,  that  man  is  a  blot  on  that  age ;  a  stain  on 
its  religion,  its  enlightenment,  its  humanity,  its 
patriotism,  its  philanthropy,  its  learning,  its  com- 
mon sense,  its  manhood. 

France  ruled  Holland,  Switzerland  and  Pied- 
mont, and  had  revived  union  with  Spain  ;  had 
again  adopted  religion  ;  had  changed  from  un re- 
publican   republic   to  strong  monarchy  ;    she  had 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     221 

extended  her  powers,  so  had  the  other  great  pow- 
ers. Recently  Russia,  Prussia  and  Austria  had 
divided  Poland ;  Austria  had  acquired  Venice ; 
Great  Britain  was  building  an  empire  in  India ; 
she  had  obtained  Ceylon;  she  was  more  than 
ever  mistress  of  the  seas. 

The  old  "balance  of  power"  had  given  place  to 
a  new  "  balance  of  power."  The  French  mastery 
of  Holland  ruined  the  Dutch  navy  and  thus  re- 
moved a  great  naval  and  commercial  rival  of  Eng- 
land. The  British  and  Americans  monopolized 
the  ocean-carrying  trade. 

In  Ceylon  Great  Britain  supplied  her  great  want 
in  the  East,  a  good  harbor.  In  all  India,  Bombay 
alone  afforded  a  safe  shelter  to  ships  during  mon- 
soons. Everywhere  else  vessels  were  obliged  to 
stand  out  into  open  seas  on  the  approach  of  those 
terrible  storms.  In  1801  Great  Britain  already 
possessed  in  India  a  greater  subject  population 
than  any  I'2uropean  power  had  in  Europe.  The 
glittering  fragments  of  Portuguese  empire  scat- 
tered up  and  down  the  East  had  warned  England 
of  the  great  importance  of  acquiring  Ceylon,  whose 
harbor,  Trincomalee,  is  secure  at  all  times.  Eng- 
land sent  troops  in  1795  to  conquer  Ceylon  from  the 
Dutch.     This  was  done  almost  without  opposition. 

The  British  war  fleet  had  reached  almost  eight 
hundred  vessels,  manned  by  one  hundicd  and 
twenty  thousand  men  withheld  from  productive 
labor. 


222  THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

Great  Britain  had  spent  large  sums  and  in- 
creased its  debt  to  ^£,'484, 000,000,  equal  to  about 
$2,400,000,000. 

Bonaparte  presented  his  scheme  for  public  in- 
struction. It  left  primary  schools  to  private 
support.  It  provided,  for  higher  education,  the 
lycees  and  special  studies,  to  which  he  took  the 
power  to  appoint  sixty-four  hundred  scholarships.* 
Girls  were  omitted.  This  power  of  appointment 
was  a  power  of  bribery.  In  all  France  but 
seventy-five  thousand  pupils  under  ten  years  were 
in  the  schools,  f 


LXIX. 

BONAPARTE'S    government   proposed    and 
urged  a  Bill  to  allow  him  to  usurp  judicial 
functions  by  appointing  special  tribunals  composed 
of  three  judges  of  the  criminal  court, 
Arbitrary         thrcc     officcrs     and     two     assessors 
Courts.  chosen  by  himself,   to  try   infamous 

crimes,  arson,  coining,  robbery, 
threats  against  purchasers  of  national  property, 
bribery,  tampering  with  soldiers  and  seditious 
assemblies. 

What  would    remain    for   juries  .'*     Only    petty 
offenses  ? 

These  arbitrary  courts  were  to  continue  for  two 

*  Bourrieniie.  t  Fourcroy. 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     223 

years  after  peace,  during  which  time  —  still  more 
absolute — the  government  might  exile  any  per- 
sons who  may  appear  dangerous. 

The  exile  clause  was  so  strongly  opposed  in  the 
Tribunate  that  he  withdrew  it  ;  then  the  Bill, 
vigorously  opposed  by  patriotic  men,  passed  the 
Tribunate  by  a  vote  of  forty-nine  to  forty-one. 


LXX. 

CHARLES  THE  SEVENTH  and  Louis  the 
Fourteenth  attempted  codes.     A  commis- 
sion of  able  lawyers,  Tronchet,  Portalis,  Merlin, 
Trcilhard    and    others,   appointed   in 
July,  1800,  placed  in  simple  order  the      The  Famous 
French    laws,    using    Dormat's    and  code. 

Pothier's  writings,  constituent  de- 
crees, the  convention's  drafts  of  1793  and  1795, 
and  one  by  Cambaceres  for  the  Council  of  Five 
Hundred;  they  eliminated  the  obsolete  and  those 
incompatible  with  the  Revolution  ;  they  formed 
one  code  which  was  then  sent  to  all  the  high  law 
courts  for  examination  and  enrichment,  and  after 
all  this  finally  discussed  in  the  Council  of  State, 
where  only  Bonaparte  took  part  in  the  work  when 
so  nearly  completed.  At  his  instance  changes  were 
made,  not  always  for  the  better.  He  reluctantly 
submitted  it  to  the  Tribunate.  Neither  the  Tribu- 
nate nor  the  Legislative  Hody  iiad  power  to  amend 


224  ■■"'•'    WORLDS    GKEATEST    CONFLICT. 

any  bill  ;  they  could  merely  adopt  or  reject ;  they 
could  not  change  a  single  word  in  the  code  pro- 
posed for  their  country  ! 

The  preliminary  title,  a  sort  of  declaration  of 
principles,  was  found  defective,  and  the  Tribunate 
and  Legislative  Body  rejected  it,  the  latter  by  only 
three  majority.  Bonaparte  was  enraged.  Had  he 
presented  it  anew,  properly  corrected,  it  would 
have  been  adopted. 

Another  title  relative  to  civil  rights  contained 
the  Dark  Ages  cruelties,  confiscation,  dishonor  of 
children  in  cases  of  civil  death.  The  Tribunate 
voted  it  down  for  its  cruelty.  Some  members 
censured  provisions  hostile  to  liberty  and  favorable 
to  favoritism. 

Bonaparte  was  very  angry ;  he  raved  with  invec- 
tive. He  withdrew  all  the  code  bills  until  he  could 
force  their  adoption. 

The  opposition  could  not  be  bought;  *  he  pre- 
pared to  break  it.  Cambaceres  showed  him  how 
to  do  it. 

The  Constitution  provided  that  the  Tribunate 
and  the  Legislative  Body  should  be  renewed  one 
fifth  every  year.  The  time  was  come.  No  new 
method  was  provided.  "  Let  the  Senate  choose 
who  shall  be  the  retiring  members,"  said  Camba- 
ceres. It  was  done.  Constant,  Daunon,  Chenier, 
every  friend  of  liberty  was  thus  expelled. 

The   abject    Senate    then    filled    the    vacancies 

*  Thibaudeau. 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     22$ 

mostly  with  creatures  of  Bonaparte,  of  whom  fif- 
teen were  generals  and  twenty-five  officials.  Car- 
not  was  the  only  republican. 

The  first  Code  Title  was  finally  promulgated 
March  5,  1803,  another  March  30,  1804,  the  Pro- 
cedure Civile  in  1806,  the  Code  de  Commerce  in 
1807,  of  rinstruction  Criminelle  in  1808,  and  the 
Code  Penal  in  18 10.*  In  this  great  code  Napoleon 
adopted,  as  his  own,  the  work  of  the  great  French 
lawyers,  and  gave  it  his  name.  It  is  not  his  code, 
but  it  is  theirs. 


LXXI. 

WHEN  Pitt  had  left   the   British  ministry, 
and    after     much    difficulty    and    very 
pointed    discussions,    protracted   through    several 
months,    preliminaries    of   peace    be- 
tween Great  Britain  and  France  were         peace  of 
at    last  signed  at    London,   October         Amiens. 

I,    l8or.  March  27,  1802. 

Afterwards  some  unexpected  diffi- 
culties arose  with  regard  to  Malta,  as  Great  Brit- 
ain repented  having  agreed  to  give  it  up.     Means 
were  found  to  remove  this  obstacle,  and  the  peace 
of  Amiens  was  finally  signed  March  27,  1802. 

England  was  generous.     The  colonics  of  France, 
Holland  and  Spain,  captured  by  Great  Britain,  were 

*  Cliainbcra's  Cyclopxdia  Vol.  IV.  p.  309. 


226  Till:    world's    L.REATEST    CONFLICT. 

to  be  restored,  except  Dutch  Ceylon,  and  Spain's 
Trinidad,  which  England  gained. 

The  French  were  to  evacuate  Rome,  Naples  and 
Elba.  Egypt  was  restored  to  Turkey.  England 
gained  an  open  port  at  Good  Hope.  The  integrity 
of  Portugal  was  guaranteed.  France  retained  all 
that  it  had  acquired  in  Europe.  Great  Britain 
recognized  Bonaparte's  government  and  acknowl- 
edged the  Ionian  Islands  as  a  free  republic. 

Great  Britain  engaged  to  restore  Malta  to  its  old 
masters,  the  Knights  of  St.  John,  within  three 
months.  Malta  was  placed  under  the  guaranty  of 
France,  Great  Britain,  Austria,  Spain,  Russia  and 
Prussia.  Later  Russia  and  Prussia  declined  to 
undertake  the  guaranty  unless  modifications  were 
added. 

Contrary  to  practice,  the  former  treaties  between 
Great  Britain  and  France  were  not  renewed. 
When  the  peace  of  Utrecht  was  made  England 
had  an  interest  in  having  the  principle  of  free  com- 
merce for  neutral  states  held  sacred,  and  she  an- 
nounced it  in  that  treaty  of  commerce  and 
navigation  of  171 3  ;  treaties  since  then  had  regu- 
larly renewed  it.  Now  George's  government 
wished  to  suppress  that  principle,  as  it  had  great- 
est power  at  sea. 

George  the  Third  was  displeased  with  the 
treaty.  He  who  never  risked  his  own  person,  nor 
his  comforts  and  luxurious  repose,  in  campaigns 
and  battles,  who  never  felt  wounds  or  army  sick- 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     227 

ness,  exhibited  his  inhumanity  by  wishing  that 
war,  with  its  nameless  horrors,  should  continue. 

Ardently,  the  English  people  welcomed  peace  by 
outbursts  of  joy.  London  resounded  with  glad- 
ness ;  the  citizens  illuminated  the  city  ;  they  drew 
the  French  envoy's  carriage  in  triumph  ;  they 
shouted  ev'crywhere  friendly  expressions  toward 
the  French.  Throughout  England  were  lively 
rejoicings  ;  the  people  gave  thanks  that  the  war 
was  ended.  Thus  did  the  real  English  rebuke 
George  and  Pitt. 

The  English  are  good  soldiers,  but  they  do  not 
desire  war ;  they  do  not  delight  in  making  victims 
and  in  desolating  homes  and  countries.  They  are 
not  fond  of  cruelty  ;  they  like  peace,  industry  and 
trade,  though  in  war  they  fight  stubbornly. 

Extreme  delight  was  also  shown  in  Paris. 
Everybody  rejoiced  at  peace.  Paris  was  soon 
crowded  with  strangers,  especially  the  British. 
The  PVcnch  and  British  met  with  cheerful  cordi- 
ality. Could  the  feelings  of  the  people  of  the  two 
nations  have  ruled  their  governments,  then  the 
peace  might  have  been  lasting. 


228  THE    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 


LXXII. 

HAD  Bonaparte  been  content  with  the  first 
place  among  modern  rulers,  with  a  mil- 
itary  reputation    surpassing   that    of   all    modern 
men,  and  had  he  devoted  himself  to 
Bonaparte's       thc  real  good  of  Francc  and  of  man- 
opportunity.      kind  ;    had   but  a  wise  ministry  and 
parliament  ruled  England  ;  had  but  a 
king  fair-minded  and  really  Christian,  one  who  ex- 
ercised beneficent  influence,  but  left  British  poli- 
tics to  able  men,  freely  chosen  by  the  British  — 
the  prosperity  and  peace  of  the  two  great  peoples 
had  been  assured,  and  the  rest  of   Europe  would 
have    gravitated    toward  well-regulated    freedom. 
Upon    these   two  men,    Bonaparte    and    George, 
depended  peace  and  prosperity  or  bloodshed  and 
misery  of  Europe.     Both   chose  the  latter,  and  a 
curse  fell  upon  men. 

The  policy  of  France  should  have  been  peace. 
By  methods  of  peace  and  by  turning  the  wonderful 
energies  of  the  French  empire  into  the  building 
up  of  a  great  commerce  and  an  armed  navy  in 
France,  Holland  and  Italy,  with  all  the  vast  re- 
sources of  40,000,000  of  population,  when  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  had  but  16,319,000,  and  the 
United  States  but  about  5,500,000,  Bonaparte 
might  have  added  vastly  to   the   wealth    of   his 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     229 

empire,  created  and  developed  an  immense  pro- 
duction, trade  and  commerce,  and  made  a  new 
empire  of  fertile  Louisiana.  He  had  it  in  his  power 
to  wonderfully  increase  the  world's  prosperity. 
He  hated  England  with  a  mortal  hatred,  and  had 
he  thrown  his  whole  force  into  enlarging  the  ac- 
tivity and  extent  of  French  manufactures  and 
navigation  it  is  possible  that  he  might  have  made 
England  feel  the  tremendous  power  of  an  enor- 
mous competition  in  her  own  favorite  field  of 
enterprise. 

Holland  is  naturally  a  great  commercial  nation. 
Such  she  had  been  for  ages.  When  standing- 
alone  in  former  generations,  she  was  a  great  naval 
and  commercial  rival  of  England. 

In  France,  too,  presenting  three  fronts  to  the 
best  commercial  seas  of  the  world,  and  the  fourth 
front  resting  on  the  navigable  Rhine,  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  industrious  peoples,  Bonaparte  pos- 
sessed rare  facilities  for  building  up  a  very  rich 
commerce.  Certainly  it  was  the  part  of  good 
statesmanship  to  seek,  through  the  arts  and  indus- 
tries, the  power  on  the  ocean  that  he  so  ardently 
coveted.  On  land  was  his  power;  at  sea  Great 
Britain  ruled  ;  his  way  to  success  there  lay,  not  in 
destroying  luigland's  navy,  but  in  obtaining  for 
I'rance  still  more  powerful  fleets  of  trading  in- 
dustry. Could  he,  in  iSoi,  have  (hivcn  every 
Ikitish  vessel  from  the  ocean,  he  had  nothing  ade- 
quate to  take  their  place.     Of  what  value  could  be 


230  THK    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 


ocean  rule  without  commerce  ?  His  success  there 
would  simply  have  destroyed  two  thirds  of  the 
trade  of  the  world.  To  build  up  French,  Dutch, 
Belgian,  Italian  and  Spanish  industries  and  com- 
merce was  the  right  way  to  rival  or  outrival  Eng- 
land ;  this  would  have  been  statesmanship. 

News  of  the  surrender  of  Alexandria,  by  which 
the  French  lost  Egypt,  reached  Paris  October  7. 
Bonaparte  hastened  to  make  a  treaty  before  the 
Turkish  embassador  should  hear  the  news.  He 
offered  to  give  up  Egypt.  He  claimed  great  mod- 
eration in  this  offer,  although  he  knew  that  Egypt 
was  already  yielded.  The  deceived  embassador 
agreed  that  French  commerce  should  have,  in  the 
Levant,  all  the  advantages  accorded  to  the  most 
favored  nations,  and  he  recognized  the  republic  of 
the  seven  Ionian  Islands.  Thus  France,  that  had 
tried  to  despoil  Turkey  of  Egypt,  gained  all  that 
had  been  accorded  to  England  that  had  defended 
Egypt  for  Turkey  at  enormous  expense  of  money 
then  needed  to  buy  bread  for  England's  starving 
poor  of  1800-2.  France  was  needy  of  this  com- 
merce, but  her  vessels  had  mostly  disajDpeared ; 
swept  from  the  seas  by  England. 

Note.  During  the  nine  years  of  the  Pitt-George  War  from  1793  to  1802,  Pitt 
and  George  expended  for  army  101,393,000  pounds  sterling;  for  navy,  97,244,000 
pounds,  and  for  ordnance  14,183,700  pounds;  a  total  of  212,820,700  pounds 
sterling,  or  more  than  a  thousand  millions  of  dollars,  representing  a  much  larger 
value  than  the  same  amount  now.  For  this  vast  expenditure  Pitt  and  George  had 
won  when  war  ended,  Trinidad  and  .Surinam,  which  they  could  no  doubt  have 
bought  of  Spain  for  less  than  one  million,  and  Ceylon  which  they  had  seized 
from  England's   fonner,  later  and   natural  ally,  Holland.     Such  facts  seem  to 


THE  WORLDS  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     231 


urge  the  idea  that  George  and  Pitt  were  not  statesmen,  but  only  incapables. 
They  viewed  the  fact,  lamentable  to  all  the  world,  and  really  disastrous  to  Eng- 
land's trade,  that  French  imports,  once  four  fifths  as  large  as  those  of  Great 
Britain,  were  now  almost  annihilated.  They  believed  that  they  were  winning  the 
profits  of  the  world's  carr\-ing  trade.  Yet  in  1801,  a  year  of  war,  but  1,762  British 
vessels  of  418,631  tons  and  23,096  men  entered  the  port  of  London,  against  2,459 
British  ships  of  574,700  tons  and  33,743  men  in  1S02,  a  year  that  had  nine  months 
of  peace.  In  1801  there  entered  3,385  foreign  ships  of  452,667  tons  and  20,388 
men  against  only  1,549  foreign  ships  of  217,117  tons  and  10,555  "le"  '"  1802,  an 
advantage  of  697  British  ships,  156,069  tons  and  10,647  "'en  in  favor  of  peace, 
while  the  foreign  were  reduced  by  1,836  ships  of  235,550  tons  and  9,833  men. 
Peace  had  reduced  the  London  carrying  by  foreign  ships  by  one  half;  certainly  a 
very  suggestive  fact.  The  increase  of  10,647  British  sailors  in  1S02  were  drawn 
from  unproductive  war  to  wealth-producing  labor.  The  war,  destroying  confi- 
dence, trade  and  industry  in  many  countries,  vastly  damaged  England.  The  Pitt- 
George  idea  that  war  increased  England's  ocean  trade  was  really  but  another  of 
their  many  blunders.     Peace  is  Britain's  wealth. 


LXXIII. 

WAR    having  ceased,  Bonaparte  continued 
his  vast  designs,  immense   indeed,  and 
intended  to  make  France  a  world-swaying  power 
to    be    ruled    by    himself.       France 
needed  repose.     He  needed  the  full-  1802. 

est  confidence  of  France.     He  acted 
with  energy.     Roads,  canals,  harbors,  dykes  and 
bridges  were  made. 

In  place  of  liberty,  Bonaparte  organized  vigor, 
efficiency,  tremendous  power  in  France.  Every 
branch  of  government  felt  hi.s  hand  —  finance, 
labor,  skill,  art,  everything  but  common  education. 
But  commerce  felt  it  disastrously. 

The  powers  of  Consul  Bonaparte  were  almost 
absolute.      He    proposed    the    laws,   appointed   or 


232  THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

dismissed  ministers  and  embassadors,  high  coun- 
cilors, military  and  naval  officers,  and  all  judges 
except  of  the  Court  of  Cassation. 

Bonaparte  again  attacked  the  principle  of  equal 
rights  by  proposing  the  "  Legion  of  Honor,"  with 
pensions  and  privileges  attached.  It  met  great 
and  strong  opposition.  He  persisted.  Public 
opinion  was  against  it.  His  will  carried  the  act 
by  a  small  majority,  in  March,  1802,  The  throne 
was  coming. 

In  May,  1802,  the  Tribunate,  already  purged  of 
its  republican  members,  proposed  that  a  testimo- 
nial of  the  nation's  gratitude  be  given  to  Bona- 
parte. The  Senate  voted  a  prolongation  of  his 
consulate  for  ten  years.     This  did  not  satisfy  him. 

The  proposal  that  his  consulate  continue  for  life 
was  then  submitted  to  a  plebiscite.  It  was  dan- 
gerous to  vote  "  no."  For  three  weeks  the  polls 
were  open  in  all  the  cities  and  villages.  August 
2,  1802,  the  Senate  announced  3»577.379  "ex- 
pressed or  tacit  "  yeas,  and  but  8,494  noes.  * 

In  receiving  from  the  Senate  the  report  of  the 
votes,  Bonaparte  said,  "  The  life  of  a  citizen  is  for 
his  country.  The  French  people  wish  mine  en- 
tirely consecrated  to  it  ;  I  obey  its  will.  In  giving 
me  a  new  pledge,  a  permanent  pledge  of  its  con- 
fidence, they  impose  on  me  the  duty  of  firmly  es- 
tablishing the  system  of  their  laws  upon  provident 
institutions." 

♦  Koch,  Vol.  n.  p.  201  ;    Rosteck,  Vol.  I.  p.  156. 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     233 

He  had  made  the  Concordat  of  July  15,  1801, 
against  the  will  of  the  army,  to  enlist  the  Church 
and  the  priests  for  him  ;  he  had  recalled  the  emi- 
grant royalists  and  restored  to  them  the  unsold 
part  of  their  property  to  win  their  support ;  he  had 
placed  the  Senate  above  the  Constitution  in  order 
to  violate  it  at  his  will  ;  he  had  brought  the  Italian 
notables  to  Lyons  and  accepted  from  them  kingly 
power  in  the  Republic  of  Italy,  that  France  might 
see  his  glory  reflected  from  Italy  ;  he  had  driven 
from  the  Tribunate  the  friends  of  liberty,  that  he 
might  be  practically  absolute  ;  he  had  secured  the 
appointment  of  sixty-four  hundred  scholarships 
that  he  might  use  them  to  make  friends,  and 
strengthen  his  power  by  gift  of  them  ;  he  had  al- 
ready the  entire  appointment  of  officers  of  the  army, 
the  navy  and  of  the  civil  service  except  the  justices 
of  the  peace,  and  these  he  had  shorn  of  powers. 
He  caused  the  passage  of  a  bill  quietly,  which 
re-established  slavery,  which  had  been  abolished  by 
the  republic.  The  same  law  restored  the  Slave 
Trade.*  It  placed  the  colonies  under  his  absolute 
control  in  the  words,  "  the  colonies  will  be  sub- 
jected for  ten  years  to  regulations  made  by  the 
Government,"  a  sad  fate  for  St.  Domingo  if  the 
blacks  and  yellow  fever  had  not  delivered  it.  Yet 
he  was  not  satisfied. 

Two  days  after  the  vote  was  announced  the 
meaning  of  his  speech  was  made  apparent. 

•  Act  relative  to  the  Colonics,  1802, 


234       THE  world's  greatest  conflict. 


LXXIV. 

AUGUST   4,   1802,  a   scnat'ils   consnltum   ap- 
peared.    On   the   bare  proposal  of   Bona- 
parte's  Council  of  State,  without   action  by  the 
Legislative  Body,  without  the  forms 
An  Astound-      rcquircd  for  the  least  important  law, 
ing  usurpa-       with  Only  arrogatcd  power,  it  changed 
tion.  August      the    fundamental    law;    it    gave    to 
4,1802.         France  a  new  Constitution  ! 

It  reduced  the  Council  of  Five 
Hundred  to  two  hundred  and  fifty-eight,  and  divi- 
ded it  into  sections  that  should  be  renewed  each 
year  in  succession. 

It  reduced  the  Tribunate  from  one  hundred  to 
fifty,  the  Senate  to  eighty.  It  gave  the  First 
Consul  power  to  add  forty  senators  at  his  pleasure. 

This  Senate,  the  servile  creature  of  Bonaparte, 
could  change  or  suspend  the  Constitution,  dissolve 
the  Corps  Legislatif  or  the  Tribunate,  declare  de- 
partments "  out  of  the  Constitution,"  reverse  the 
decision  of  law  tribunals,  suspend  the  functions  of 
the  jury!  But  all  acts  of  the  Senate  were  first  to 
emanate  from  the  First  Consul  !  He  had  a  new 
Privy  Council  to  prepare  senates  consiilta  and  ad- 
vise about  treaties. 

A  grand  judge  was  to  control  and  inspect  infe- 
rior tribunals,  and,  if  any  judgment  should  appear 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     235 

politically  improper,  inexpedient  or  hazardous,  the 
subservient  Senate  might  annul  it. 

This  Senate,  a  mere  instrument  of  Bonaparte's, 
was  to  appoint  the  members  of  the  Legislative 
Body  from  lists  to  be  arranged  by  department 
colleges  of  but  three  hundred  voters  each,  that 
were  to  present  three  names  for  each  deputy. 

The  Senate  were  also  to  choose  the  Tribunate, 
now  become  of  little  consequence,  from  candidates 
to  be  nominated  by  circuit  colleges  of  only  two 
hundred  voters  each. 

The  three  hundred  department  and  two  hundred 
circuit  voters  were  to  be  named  for  life  by  canton 
assemblies. 

To  convoke  and  prorogue  all  these  bodies  was 
left  to  the  Consul. 

Bonaparte  took  to  himself  the  power  to  appoint 
his  own  successor.  In  concert  with  a  Privy  Coun- 
cil of  his  own  choice,  he  took  the  power  of  mak- 
ing war  and  peace,  alliances  and  of  ])ardon. 

To  this  arbitrary  and  fraudulent  Constitution  the 
nation  submitted  without  a  struggle !  Despotic 
monarchy  had  come  without  its  name. 


236  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 


LXXV. 

BY  secret  treaty  France  and  Russia,  October 
II,  1 80 1,  agreed  to  act  with  perfect  accord 
respecting   "compensation"   to    German    princes 
whose  territories  west  of  the  Rhine 
German         had  bccn  absorbed  by  France.     This 
"Compensa-      invitation  to  aid   in  arbitrating  Ger- 
tions."   1802.      many  was  a  flattery  that  Bonaparte 
offered  to  the  young  czar  Alexander, 
to  incline  him  to  favor  the  French  policy. 

The  King  of  Prussia  was  in  a  spirit  of  inordi- 
nate cupidity  ;  Austria  impatient,  ready  to  fight 
for  German  spoils  ;  the  smaller  rulers  were  terribly 
alarmed  ;  mediation  was  essential ;  they  had  a 
mediator  who  had  no  scruples  of  conscience. 
Bonaparte  engaged  to  evacuate  Naples  as  soon  as 
his  army  should  return  from  Egypt  ;  the  two 
powers  agreed  to  consult  in  friendly  manner  con- 
cerning the  interests  of  the  "  King  of  Sardinia," 
and  have  all  regard  to  the  actual  state  of  things  ; 
Wurtemberg,  Bavaria  and  Baden  were  to  be 
favored  ;  *  independence  of  the  Ionian  republic  was 
acknowledged  and  foreign  troops  excluded  ;  France 
and  Russia  agreed  to  use  their  influence  to  restore 
universal  peace,  to  preserve  the  balance  of  power, 

♦  This  suited  Napoleon's  purposes,  because  the  rulers  of  Raden  and  Wurtem- 
berg were  his  allies,  and  pleased  Alexander  because  they  were  his  relatives. 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     237 

and  secure  freedom  of  the  seas.  Russia  engaged 
to  recognize  all  of  Bonaparte's  condition  of  Italy 
as  settled  by  existing  treaties.* 

German  sovereigns,  small  and  great,  were  each 
alarmed  at  the  activity,  the  avarice,  the  influential 
relations  of  the  others.  Intrigue  was  vigorous  ; 
they  beseeched  Bonaparte  with  energy  ;  many  of 
them  rushed  to  Paris  to  implore  him,  only  to  find 
the  counter  claimant  already  there  in  the  attitude  of 
supplication.  They  thronged  the  Tuileries.  They 
begged  ;  they  promised  ;  they  exhibited  great 
vigor  of  cupidity.  Bonaparte  pretended  to  refer 
the  matter  to  the  Diet  at  Ratisbon. 

Not  Germany  but  Bonaparte  arranged  the 
changes  of  Germany.  Right  and  wrong  were 
principles  not  entertained.  It  was  simply  interest, 
might,  power,  birth  or  circumstance.  Bonaparte 
had  his  own  way,  and  arranged  everything  to  h'u; 
own  interest  and  the  profit  and  enrichment  of  his 
own  friends  among  German  rulers. 

Rulers  were  wrongly  held  to  be  the  actual 
owners  of  their  people.  All  was  done  on  that 
principle.  Not  the  happiness,  well  being  and  in- 
terests of  the  millions  of  Germans  was  considered, 
but  merely  the  greed  of  the  few  royal  or  princely 
persons. 

The  rights  of  men,  for  which  France  had  strug- 
gled and  suffered  and  sacrificed,  were  all  ignored. 
It  was  merely  a  strife  of  men  who  cared  little  for 

•  bclilosscr,  Vol.  VII.  p.  314. 


238  THF.    WOKI. n's    (iRKATEST    CONFTJCT. 

the  happiness  of  peoples ;  they  merely  sought  gain 
for  themselves.  The  spoils  of  Germany  were 
countries,  cities,  human  beings.  Sir  Walter  Scott 
says,  "Towns,  districts  and  provinces  were  dealt 
from  hand  to  hand  like  cards  at  a  gaming  table," 
and  Europe  "  saw  with  scandal  the  government  of 
freemen  transferred  from  hand  to  hand  without 
regard  to  their  wishes,  aptitudes  and  habits  any 
more  than  those  of  cattle,"  while  "  breaking  every 
tie  of  affection  between  governor  and  governed." 

Still  agents  of  the  German  rulers  and  misrulers 
swarmed  around  Bonaparte  and  his  minister,  Talley- 
rand, begging  for  land  and  peoples,  contracting, 
higgling,  not  for  the  good  of  fatherland,  but  only 
for  themselves ;  for  increase  of  their  paltry  gran- 
deur, for  accession  to  their  pretensive  egoism,  thus 
showing  their  unfitness  to  govern  by  their  readi- 
ness to  sacrifice  public  interests,  and  by  their 
ignoring  human  rights. 

In  weighing  claims  Bonaparte  considered  only 
princes  and  families  that  had  long  wrung  their 
revenues  from  the  labor  of  other  persons  ;  and 
their  conduct  plainly  showed  that  they  were  not 
"divinely"  sent  to  wisely  rule,  but  only  that  they 
were  here  to  each  get  the  largest  possible  spoils 
from  the  labors  of  those  who  produce  wealth. 
And  this  was  called  "  Indemnity." 

As  no  man  has  any  natural  right  to  rule, 
so  no  one  has  any  right  to  "  indemnity  "  for  loss 
of  rule.     There  is  no  individual,  property  right  in 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     239 

rule.  It  is  only  an  employment  lent  by  the  people 
who  have  a  right  at  any  time  to  resume  it  without 
giving  "indemnity." 

Yet  here  was  the  case  of  the  Austrian  ex-grand 
duke  of  Tuscany,  come  from  Italy,  to  be  "  indem- 
nified "  for  not  being  longer  wanted  in  Italy,  by 
now  being  placed  over  Germans. 

All  was  decided  at  Paris.  By  treaty  in  June, 
1802,  Bonaparte  agreed  with  the  Russian  embassa- 
dor, and  the  Czar  Alexander  ratified  it  in  July. 
Then  France  and  Russia  notified  the  German  Diet 
at  Ratisbon  what  was  to  be  done,  and  the  Diet 
ratified  it  March  24,  1803. 

Long-standing  rights  were  overturned.  Forty- 
five  towns  had  long  been  free.  But  six  of  them 
were  spared.  All  else  were  put  under  princely 
beggars.  Frankfort,  Augsburg,  Lubec,  Bremen, 
Hamburg  and  Nuremberg  only  remained  inde- 
pendent. 

Prussia,  Bavaria,  Wurtemberg  and  Baden,  whose 
rulers  were  friendly  to  Bonaparte  and  Alexander, 
were  enlarged  by  the  great  robbery.  The  ex- 
grand  dukes  of  Modena  and  Tuscany  received 
shares  of  the  spoils  of  unfortunate  Germany. 
The  Dutch  prince  of  Orange,  a  foreigner  expelled 
by  his  own  people,  got  Fulda  and  Dortmund. 

It  was  a  dividing  of  prey.  Everything  was 
taken  by  these  robbers  of  the  people.  They  im- 
piously laid  unholy  hands  on  the  sacred  funds  of 
suffering  humanity;  they  stole  the  charitable  funds. 


240  TIIK    WORLDS    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

They  declared  "that  the  property  of  all  founda- 
tions," whether  Catholic  or  Protestant,  should  be 
used,  not  for  the  charities  to  which  they  had  been 
given,  but  for  themselves. 

The  clerical  princes  were  all  dispossessed  except 
Carl  Von  Dalberg  of  Rcgenstein,  a  great  admirer 
of  Bonaparte. 

Such  was  Bonaparte's  great  wrong  to  Germany. 


LXXVI. 

ST.  DOMINGO,  including  Tortuga,  Goniave 
and  other  small  islands,  is  about  seven 
eighths  the  size  of  Ireland,  or  about  twenty-eight 
thousand  square  miles.  With  a  soil 
St.  Domingo.  well  Watered,  a  climate  tempered  by 
sea  breezes,  it  is  one  of  the  most  fer- 
tile spots  of  the  West  Indies.  Its  excellent  har- 
bors offer  fine  facilities  for  trade.  Its  coffee, 
cotton,  sugar,  tobacco,  wax,  ginger,  logwood, 
mahogany  and  tropical  fruits  form  a  valuable 
commerce. 

Long  before  1800  the  remorseless  cruelty  of 
Europeans  had  exterminated  the  aborigines.  In 
the  seventeenth  century  buccaneers  swept  its  seas 
and  sheltered  in  its  harbors. 

In  1697,  by  the  peace  of  Ryswick,  Spain  ceded 
the  west  part  to  France.  During  the  long  period 
of  a  century  great  numbers  of  slaves  were  imported 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  24 1 

from  Africa.  In  1790  the  French  part  was  well 
cultivated  by  about  five  hundred  thousand  slaves. 

The  mulattoes  rapidly  increased  in  the  Spanish 
part.  There  was  hostility  between  them  and  the 
negroes.  The  mulattoes,  excluded  from  citizen- 
ship, and  generally  exempt  from  slavery,  were  an 
intermediate  caste.  They  unsuccessfully  revolted, 
in  1790,  against  the  Spanish  whites. 

In  1 79 1  (August)  the  western  negroes  rebelled 
against  their  French  masters.  They  committed 
massacres.  The  French  Convention,  in  1791,  de- 
creed rights  of  French  citizens  to  colored  people. 
But  still  the  struggle  went  on.  Insurrection  and 
anarchy  reigned. 

In  1794  the  French  National  Assembly  declared 
the  slaves  free,  but  refused  to  negroes  and  mulat- 
toes equal  rights  with  whites.  But  a  French  com- 
missioner offered  these  privileges  to  all  who  would 
serve  in  the  French  army.  This  decree  won  to 
the  French  republic,  Toussaint  (surnamcd  L'Ou- 
verturc),  a  negro,  formerly  a  coachman,  who  had 
been  conspicuously  active  in  favor  of  royalty  and 
Catholicism.  The  French  commander,  Laveaux, 
made  the  talented  negro  a  general.  Toussaint 
with  his  negro  army  brought  most  of  the  western 
part  again  under  France.  Since  1791  the  whites 
had  been  almost  exterminated.  It  had  been  a  tri- 
angular antagonism  between  white,  black  and 
mixed,  and  the  whites  had  lost. 

I"  '795'  by  the  peace  of  Basle,  Spain  had  ceded 


242  THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

to  France  the  eastern,  of  that  time,  Spanish  part, 
inhabited  before  the  insurrection  by  whites  and 
mulattoes.  Like  other  Spanish  colonies  under 
the  bad  government  of  Spanish  Bourbons,  it  had 
been  much  neglected.  French  commissioners, 
sent  to  take  possession,  were  refused  obedience 
by  the  whites. 

In  1796  Toussaint  received  from  Paris  the  rank 
of  general,  and  was  made  Commander  in  St. 
Domingo.  He  now  governed  the  western,  and 
Rigaud  the  eastern  or  mulatto  part.  The  British 
still  held  some  western  ports  and  forts.  France 
sent  General  Hedouville  to  expel  them.  Tous- 
saint joined  him  with  the  negroes  and  Rigaud 
with  the  mulattoes.  The  French  took  Port  au 
Prince  from  the  British.  The  British  chose  to 
surrender  the  other  places  to  Toussaint.  He 
gave  them  favorable  terms.  The  British  left  the 
country.  Hedouville  with  the  French  troops  left 
the  island.  Then  Rigaud  with  the  mulattoes  con- 
tended against  L'Ouverture  and  the  negroes. 

By  the  end  of  1799,  in  only  a  single  district 
(Aux  Cayes),  Rigaud  still  resisted.  Finding  him- 
self unsupported  by  the  French,  Rigaud  went  to 
Paris. 

Consul  Bonaparte  now  confirmed  L'Ouverture 
as  French  governor.  He  did  not  intend  to  allow 
him  to  possess  the  Spanish  part.  He  sent  com- 
missioners to  take  possession  of  that  part.  But 
L'Ouverture  moved  there  with  his  negro  army  and 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     243 

compelled  the  Spanish  to  deliver  up  to  him,  as 
French  commissioner,  the  fortresses,  against  the 
protest  of  the  French  commissioners. 

From  this  time  L'Ouvcrture  tried  to  play  in  St. 
Domingo  the  same  part  that  Bonaparte  was  play- 
ing in  France.  To  Bonaparte's  great  disgust  the 
St.  Domingo  negro  imitated  every  step  of  the  for- 
midable Corsican  ;  at  the  same  time  L'Ouverture 
created  a  government  that  bid  fair  to  restore  the 
former  degree  of  prosperity  to  that  island.  As 
Bonaparte  had  done,  so  did  L'Ouverture  appoint 
a  commission  to  make  a  constitution.  He  caused 
it  to  be  presented  to  himself  for  acceptance.  He 
caused  himself  to  be  proclaimed  president.  He 
took  the  power  to  name  his  successor. 

Bonaparte  was  very  angry,  because  the  negro 
had  guessed  his  own  intentions  and  anticipated 
them.  He  was  enraged  too  because  L'Ouverture 
had  proclaimed  to  his  negroes,  "  We  are  free  to-day 
becau.se  we  are  strongest  ;  but  the  First  Consul 
maintains  slavery  in  Martinique  and  the  Isle  of 
Bourbon  ;  we  also  may  become  slaves  if  he  should 
be  able  to  become  the  strongest." 

When  order  was  restored  L'Ouverture  allowed 
the  whites  to  return  ;  he  let  out  the  plantations  of 
the  absent,  he  soothed  the  jealousies  of  the  mulat- 
tocs,  he  restrained  the  ruder  negroes  by  strict 
discipline.  L'Ouverture  notified  Bonaparte  of  his 
new  dignity  in  a  letter  beginning,  "The  First  of 
Blacks  to  the  First  of  Whites." 


244  THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

Bonaparte  prepared  a  great  expedition,  under 
command  of  General  Leclerc,  the  husband  of  his 
sister  Pauline,  to  destroy  the  new  negro  govern- 
ment. He  intended  to  re-inslave  that  people  who 
had  fought  for  and  won  their  free  independence. 
Bonaparte  was  unpopular  with  the  French  army 
of  the  Rhine.  It  must  go  to  St.  Domingo.  He 
would  then  be  rid  of  it. 

George  the  Third's  Addington  ministry,  favor- 
able to  slavery,  looked  on  quietly  until  the  great 
magnitude  of  the  expedition  alarmed  them.  It 
might  be  designed  for  purpose  other  than  to  sub- 
jugate St.  Domingo.     They  made  a  protest. 

Bonaparte  explained  that  the  British,  too,  "  were 
materially  interested  in  the  reduction  of  Tous- 
saint's  power,  who  would  otherwise  establish  a 
piratical  state."*  So  Bonaparte,  in  a  piratical 
spirit,  sent  an  immense  national  piratical  force 
to  destroy,  not  only  their  property  and  to  rob  them 
like  ordinary  pirates,  but  also  to  take  from  them 
those  treasures  dearest  to  men's  hearts,  their  own 
freedom  and  the  safety  and  liberty  of  their  wives 
and  children. 

St.  Domingo  still  recognized  the  sovereignty  of 
France.  But  it  was  really  become  independent  ; 
it  was  really  a  black  Roman  Catholic  nation — the 
only  negro  Christian  people  in  the  world.  They 
wished  to  live  under  French  protection. 

Some  British  merchants  let  out  their  ships  for 

*  Bonaparte  to  Talleyrand. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  245 

hire  to  help  to  convey  these  marauder  troops  and 
their  stores  on  their  miserable,  despotic  and 
wicked  errand,  but  many  British  denounced  it  as 
monstrous  crime. 

While  Bonaparte  was  directing  Talleyrand  to  in- 
form the  British  ministry  of  his  intention  "  of 
annihilating  the  government  of  the  blacks "  he 
wrote  to  Toussaint  of  "  the  great  services  you  have 
rendered  to  the  French  people.  If  their  flag 
floats  over  St.  Domingo  it  is  to  you  and  the  brave 
blacks  that  it  is  due."  And  "you  have  caused 
civil  war  to  cease  ;  you  have  put  a  stop  to  perse- 
cution by  savage  men,  brought  back  honor  to  re- 
ligion and  God."  "The  constitution  that  you 
have  framed,  while  it  contains  many  good  things, 
contains  others  opposed  to  the  dignity  and  sover- 
eignty of  the  French  people." 

To  General  Leclcrc  he  wrote,  March  i6,  1802, 
"as  soon  as  you  have  got  rid  of  Toussaint,  Chris- 
tophe,  Dessalines  and  the  principal  brigands,  and 
when  the  mass  of  the  blacks  arc  disarmed,  send  to 
the  continent  all  negroes  and  colored  men  who 
have  taken  part  in  the  civil  troubles."  Such  was 
iionaparte's  duplicity. 

The  St.  Domingans  feared  return  to  slavery. 
How  well  grounded  were  these  fears  is  seen  in 
the  facts  that  in  July,  1802,  Bonaparte  directed 
that  Richcpansc  must  restore  slavery  in  Guada- 
loupe,  and  that  he  caused  an  enactment  of  a 
French  law  to  re-establish  slavery  in  the  French 


246        Tin;  world's  greatest  conflict. 

colonies,   and   put    St.    Domingo  under   his    own 
"  personal  government  "  for  ten  years. 

The  natives,  with  terrible  earnestness  not  un- 
mixed with  cruelty,  resisted  the  great  aggression. 
It  was  a  fierce,  a  terrific  struggle,  with  alternating 
success  ;  on  the  side  of  the  natives  it  was  for 
home,  fireside,  country,  liberty,  honor,  and  all  that 
is  valuable  and  attractive  in  life ;  on  the  Bonaparte 
side  it  was  for  such  conquest  as  disgraces  human 
nature. 

Leclerc  soon  found  that  he  had  met  a  desperate 
enemy.  The  natives  had  tasted  liberty ;  with 
many  the  struggle  was  death.  Again  the  country 
was  devastated,  desolated. 

The  sufferings  of  the  French  troops  were  fright- 
ful. Veterans  of  many  battles  fell  before  sickness 
and  negro  war. 

Cape  Francois  was  regarded  as  the  principal 
town.  It  was  burned  in  1793,  but  since  rebuilt. 
When  the  French  advanced  to  invest  it  they  found 
it  again  only  ashes.  Christophe,  a  negro  chief, 
unable  to  hold  it  had  burnt  the  city. 

As  the  French  approached  the  negroes  fulfilled 
their  threat  to  convert  the  country  into  a  desert. 
Blooming  and  fertile  parts  were  made  desolate 
wastes. 

But  by  degrees  several  native  generals  were 
enticed  by  fine  offers  made  to  them  by  Leclerc  ; 
whole  troops  of  disciplined  negroes  went  over  to 
the  French. 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     247 

At  last,  apprehensive  of  total  desertion,  Presi- 
dent Toussaint  negotiated  ;  he  offered  to  resign  ; 
he  refused  all  of  Leclerc's  offers  of  personal  ad- 
vantage. He  withdrew  to  his  estate  in  the  forest. 
He  only  asked  to  be  permitted  to  live  there  in 

peace. 

When  the  French  believed  their  conquest  of 
the  island  complete,  they  treated  the  mulattoes 
and  negroes  according  to  their  former  custom, 
with  haughtiness. 

Leclerc's  force  had  been  greatly  reduced  by  war 
and  disease,  and  he  apprehended  another  popular 
rising  against  the  French.  He  determined  to 
forestall  this  by  decisive  action. 

Toussaint  had  capitulated,  May  8,  1802.  On 
June  8  the  French  general  invited  him  to  a  con- 
ference, treacherously  seized  him,  and  sent  him  to 
France,  where  this  son  of  the  tropics  died  in  the 
cold  mountain  prison  of  Joux,  in  April,  1803. 

Was  it  a  Divine  retribution  that  sent  to  the 
luxuriant  retirement  at  St.  Helena,  surrounded  by 
the  very  few  men  who  loved  him,  this  same  Bona- 
parte, who  uselessly  sacrificed  many  thousands  of 
lives,  who  had  caused  indescribable  wholesale  suf- 
fering in  a  very  cruel  attempt  to  make  slaves  of 
the  free  St.  Domingans,  and  who  himself  had 
wickedly  and  brutally  sent  the  patriot  Toussaint 
to  suffer  and  die  in  a  French  prison  ? 

This  treachery  produced  its  legitimate  effects. 
Many  negroes,   enraged,  flew  to  arms.     Terrible 


248  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

scenes  followed.  In  a  few  weeks  many  thousands 
of  French  and  blacks  were  destroyed  by  war  and 
fevers. 

The  French  were  deserted,  attacked,  harassed. 
General  Leclerc  died.  His  successor,  Rocham- 
beau,  received  re-enforcements  from  France.  But 
this  only  increased  the  terrible  losses  of  France. 

The  veteran  victors  of  many  European  battles 
failed  to  conquer  these  West  Indian  negroes. 

When,  in  1803,  war  again  came  between  France 
and  England,  the  few  French  troops  that  had  not 
perished  were  shut  up  in  Cape  Francois  by  the 
negroes  by  land  and  by  a  British  fleet  by  sea. 
They  capitulated  to  the  negro  leader  Dessalines, 
and  were  carried  away  by  a  British  squadron. 

Capital  had  been  destroyed,  labor  demoralized, 
the  people  embittered  and  prevented  from  learn- 
ing how  to  govern  themselves  ;  and  a  bad  les- 
son in  politics  given  them  by  this  ill-starred 
expedition. 

But  to  Bonaparte  it  was  little  more  than  the 
ridding  himself  of  some  persons  in  the  French 
army  who  were  not  friendly  to  his  personal  ag- 
grandizement, and  the  loss  of  so  much  of  military 
resources. 

The  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  had  been  agi- 
tated at  every  recent  session  of  the  British  Par- 
liament. The  cruel  death  of  Toussaint  made  a 
deep  impression  in  England.  The  fate  of  this 
heroic  black  man  was  ever  deplored. 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     249 

Dessalines  became  governor.  A  massacre  of 
whites  followed.  In  1804,  imitating  the  example 
of  Napoleon,  he  proclaimed  himself  Emperor  of 
Hayti,  under  the  title  of  James  the  First.  He 
published  a  new  constitution,  May  20,  1805.  Soon 
after  he  was  killed  in  an  insurrection. 

Christophe  succeeded  Dessalines,  and  was  de- 
clared President  of  Hayti.  He  opened  the  ports 
to  the  commerce  of  neutrals. 

The  mulatto  Petion  led  a  rebellion.  After  a 
bloody  civil  war,  the  island  became  two  states  ; 
St.  Domingo,  where  Christophe,  as  King  Henry 
the  First,  held  style  military  and  pompous,  and 
Hayti,  where  President  Petion  preserved  repub- 
lican forms.     Bloody  wars  raged  between  them. 


Lxxvn. 

THE  slavish  senate  bowed  so  completely  be- 
fore   Bonaparte,  that    it  resolved,  August 
30,  1802,  that  it  was  not  legal  to  assemble  except 
at  the  summons  of  the  Consuls.* 
France  rapidly  retrograded.     The 

courts     of     law    took     the     old     forms.       France  in  1802. 

Old   official   costumes   reappeared  in 

the    red    dress    of    the    councilors.     Bonaparte's 

court   was    the   center   of    brilliant    tinselry    and 

intrigue. 

•  Schlosser,  Vol.  II.  p.  332. 


250  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

National  lands,  national  property  and  domains 
were  lavished  in  new  gifts  by  Bonaparte  to  please 
his  favorites,  to  bribe  the  indifferent,  and  to  gratify 
the  greed  of  the  Bonaparte  family  and  their  de- 
pendents. France  and  Germany  were  extensively 
robbed  for  this  purpose. 

October  10,  1802,  fourteen  anti-Bonaparte  de- 
partments were  deprived  of  legal  rights,  by  a 
decree  of  the  Senate,  which  suspended  trial  by 
jury  for  two  years,  and  organized  summary  tri- 
bunals. August  3,  1804,  a  new  decree  added  two 
years  more.  The  pretext  was  disturbances  of 
order. 

On  December  31,  1802,  the  Christian  calendar 
was  restored. 

The  illiberal  Jesuits  who  at  different  times  had 
been  expelled  for  offenses  from  most  of  the  coun- 
tries of  Europe,  even  from  Catholic  Spain,  Italy 
and  Portugal,  and  were  then  generally  accounted 
public  and  private  offenders,  alike  by  Protestants 
and  Catholics,  were  now  in  high  favor  with  ladies 
and  with  old  nobles  who  were  becoming  numerous 
at  Bonaparte's  court.  Bonaparte  favored,  although 
he  disliked  them.     They  might  aid  his  despotism. 

The  beginning  of  peace  (i 801-2)  was  an  era  of 
good  feeling  between  the  French  and  English. 
Thousands  of  the  English  visited  France.  It  was 
then  in  the  power  of  the  two  governments,  by 
acting  in  harmony,  to  make  peace  and  prosperity 
perpetual. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  25 1 

The  continuous  aggressions  of  France  on  other 
nations  in  1802,  alarmed  Great  Britain,  who  with- 
held the  surrender  of  Malta  which  she  had  prom- 
ised in  the  treaty  of  Amiens  of  ]\Iarch. 

Bonaparte  was  irritated.  He  continued  his 
Italian,  Swiss,  German  and  Dutch  schemes  of  ad- 
vantafTC.  He  acted  from  the  bad  idea  that  a 
nation  may  do  anything  not  forbidden  by  treaty. 

To  please  the  Czar  Paul,  while  he  lived,  Bona- 
parte ruled  Piedmont  as  a  separate  state,  but, 
April  9,  1802,  he  ranked  it  as  a  military  division 
of  France,  in  six  departments.  In  September  he 
definitely  annexed  it  to  France. 

Ferdinand,  Duke  of  Parma,  died,  and  Bonaparte 
immediately  took  possession  of  Parma,  which  he 
held  by  the  treaty  of  March  21,  1801,  with  bad 
Charles  the  Fourth  of  Spain. 

He  required  the  kings  of  Naples  and  Sardinia 
to  give  him  Elba,  which  he  annexed  to  France. 
This  was  a  base  robbery. 

In  Holland  no  act  of  the  government  had  valid- 
ity without  the  sanction  of  Bonaparte,  and  it  was 
obliged  to  take  into  its  pay  a  body  of  P^rench 
troops. 

Bonaparte  sent  a  French  army  to  again  occupy 
Switzerland  (October  21,  1802). 

Each  of  these  bad  acts  roused  great  displeasure 
in  England.  None  of  them  had  any  justice  in 
their  favor.  The  English  press  severely  criticised 
Bonaparte's    interference.       The    French    official 


252  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

Moniteur  replied.  The  newspaper  war  became 
very  bitter.  Bonaparte  could  not  comprehend  the 
existence  of  an  independent  British  press.  Every- 
where else  in  Europe  governments  restricted  the 
press.  Even  Republican  America  had  tried  to 
restrain  it  by  the  "Alien  and  Sedition"  laws  of 
the  Federalists,  which  America  had  just  repu- 
diated. Wherever  the  press  was  free  —  in  America 
and  Great  Britain  only  —  it  was  very  violent,  per- 
sonal, vituperative,  in  that  peculiarly  uncivil,  jarring 
generation,  the  hating  period  of  modern  history. 

Bonaparte  was  accused  of  sending  to  England 
military  men  and  engineers,  accredited  as  com- 
mercial agents,  but  who  really  were  spies  instructed 
to  report  plans  of  the  English  ports,  soundings, 
depths  of  water  and  best  winds  with  which  to 
enter  them.     England  promptly  dismissed  them. 

This  sly  attempt  to  obtain  information  danger- 
ous to  England,  made  a  bad  impression.  England 
was  indignant.  The  press  was  vehement.  The 
personal  character  of  Bonaparte,  certainly  very 
vulnerable,  was  severely  treated.  Bonaparte  was 
furious.  He  exhibited  his  rage.  The  English 
were  again  convinced  that  he  hated  them.  He  re- 
plied in  the  official  Moniteur,  angry  and  violent. 
Inflaming  hostile  rejoinders  still  further  scorched 
out  of  men's  hearts  the  sentiments  of  mutual  amity 
and  common  civility.  The  two  great  nations  were 
undignified  ;  actually  scolding  each  other!  It  re- 
quired great  genius  to  match  Bonaparte  as  a  scold. 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     253 


Bonaparte  remonstrated  with  the  British  minis- 
try. The  emigres,  in  their  secure  retreat  in  Eng- 
land, published  many  stinging  criticisms  against 
Bonaparte.  He  complained.  He  ordered  the 
French  Envoy,  M.  Otto,  to  state  in  an  official  note 
these  grievances  in  substance : 

(i.)  The  existence  of  a  deep  and  continued  sys- 
tem through  the  press  to  injure  the  character  of 
the  French  First  Consul,  and  to  prejudice  the 
effects  of  his  measures. 

(2.)  Permission  to  a  part  of  the  princes  of 
Bourbon  and  their  adherents  to  remain  in  England, 
for  the  purpose  (it  was  alleged)  that  they  might 
hatch  and  encourage  schemes  against  the  life  and 
government  of  the  F'irst  Consul. 

He  demanded  that  the  British  stop  this  griev- 
ance, dismiss  from  the  country  the  culpable  emi- 
gres, and  non-juror  French  bishops,  send  Cadoudal 
to  Canada,  and  advise  the  princes  to  join  their 
head  at  Warsaw.  lie  reminded  the  British  min- 
istry that  their  Alien  act  gave  full  power  to  ex- 
clude any  foreigners  at  pleasure. 

The  British  reply  shrewdly  reminded  Bonaparte 
that,  while  the  British  ministry  did  not  control  the 
British  press,  and  was  not  responsible  for  its  free 
acts,  yet  the  Moniteur,  which  abused  England,  was 
the  official  organ  of  the  French  Government.  If 
any  press  article  is  libelous  in  England  the  publisher 
is  answerable  ;  he  can  be  prosecuted  in  the  regular 
courts  of  justice. 


254        TiiF.  world's  greatest  conflict. 

It  is  a  glory  of  Great  Britain  tiiat  its  press  can- 
not be  reached  by  any  arbitrary  act  of  personal 
power  of  the  Government. 

The  British  ministry  did  not  believe  that  schemes 
ag-ainst  the  French  Government  existed  there. 
They  declined  to  expel  the  emigres,  bishops  and 
princes. 

A  suit  was  brought  against  Peltier,  a  French 
refugee  who  had  been  specially  active,  for  malicious 
and  libelous  publication  against  Bonaparte.  This 
was  an  important  trial ;  it  attracted  great  attention. 
But  it  soon  appeared  that  not  Peltier  only,  but 
Bonaparte's  government  also,  his  oppressions,  his 
violence  to  liberty,  his  great  greed,  his  exactions, 
his  ambitions,  his  cruelties  were  on  trial  before  the 
great  tribunal  of  the  public  opinion  of  mankind. 
The  able  lawyer,  James  Mackintosh,  who  de- 
fended Peltier,  argued  that  the  rights  of  mankind 
were  on  trial  against  their  great  abuser  and  de- 
stroyer, the  despoiler  of  Italy,  Germany,  Holland 
and  Switzerland. 

He  examined  Bonaparte's  measures  ;  he  defended 
the  freedom  of  the  press  ;  he  made  so  comprehen- 
sive and  powerful  an  argument  and  criticism  as 
extremely  chagrined  Bonaparte  and  delighted  his 
many  enemies  all  over  Europe.  This  speech,  ex- 
tensively circulated,  was  read  in  many  lands.  The 
trial  had  redounded  against  Bonaparte. 
The  jury  found  Peltier  guilty.* 

•  Peltier  was  never  sentenced.     He  was  released  after  war  began. 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     255 

A  part  of  the  British  fleet  mutinied  at  Bantry 
Bay.     Si.x  of  the  ringleaders  were  hanged. 

Sandhurst  school  was  established  to  train  boys 
for  army  officers. 


LXXVIII. 

BONAPARTE  revived  an  old  Jacobin  law 
which  forbade  small  vessels  within  four 
leagues  of  France,  and  seized  some  British  ves- 
sels. Some  driven  there  by  storm  did  not  receive 
common  hospitality  by  exemption. 

Both  governments  used  sharp  causes  of  the 
words.  Bonaparte  insisted  on  the  war.  1803. 
Amiens  treaty  pledges.  George  had 
agreed  to  leave  Egypt  and  yield  up  Malta ;  yet  he 
refused,  with  complaints  of  French  annexation  of 
Piedmont  and  Genoa,  and  aggressions  in  Holland 
and  Switzerland.  He  demanded  that  the  conti- 
nent be  as  it  was  when  the  treaty  was  made.  Pitt 
said  that  French  increase  of  power  had  impaired 
the  treaty.  Bonaparte  might  use  Egypt  for  pur- 
poses hostile  to  British  India. 

Malta  is  between  France  and  Egypt.  With 
its  navy,  more  powerful  than  other  navies,  Eng- 
land could  blockade  Malta  and  defend  the  route 
to  Egypt.  George  ought  to  have  kept  the  treaty 
pledges. 

The   Moniteur  published  the  report  of    Sebas- 


256  THF.    WOKI.n's    r.KEATEST    CONFLICT. 

tiani,  who  described  the  British,  Turkish  and 
Mameluke  armies  in  Egypt,  and  said  that  six 
thousand  French  would  be  sufficient  for  its  con- 
quest. He  had  examined  fortifications  and  had 
exhorted  the  Zanteans  to  look  to  France  for 
protection. 

Alarmed  and  offended,  George  saw  in  this  a 
threat  against  British  power  in  India  through 
Egypt.  France  explained  that  Sebastiani's  re- 
port was  purely  commercial,  its  publication  being 
provoked  as  rejoinder  to  a  "book  full  of  atrocious 
calumnies  against  the  French  army,"  meaning 
Wilson's  History  of  the  Egyptian  Expedition, 
which  had  been  accepted  and  its  author  flattered 
by  George  and  his  brother. 

A  showy  display  of  the  power  of  France  was 
officially  published  February  23,  1803.  It  summed 
up  that  "  England,  single  handed,  is  unable  to  cope 
with  France."  Bourrienne  says  it  was  "  merely 
an  assurance  to  France."  But  George,  Addington 
and  Adviser  Pitt,  forgetting  that  the  British  glory 
in  the  freedom  of  the  press,  took  it  as  defiance. 
The  ministry  unwisely  declared  that  it  would 
enter  into  no  further  discussion  about  Malta  till 
it  received  the  most  ample  satisfaction  for  this 
"  singular  aggression." 

On  March  8,  a  royal  message  to  the  British 
Parliament  represented  that  "considerable  military 
preparations"  were  going  on  in  the  ports  of  France 
and   Holland,    and    that    King    George    believed 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     257 

it  his  duty  to  adopt  new  measures  of  precaution. 
"The  preparations  are,  it  is  true,  officially  in- 
tended for  colonial  expeditions."  There  existed 
important  differences  of  sentiment  between  the 
two  governments. 

Bourrienne  says,  "  the  first  grievance  com- 
plained of  by  England  was  the  prohibition  of 
English  merchandise,  which  had  been  more  rigid 
since  peace  than  during  the  war."*  "She  was 
alarmed  at  the  aspect  of  our  internal  prosperity, 
and  the  impulse  given  to  our  manufactures."  f 
Bonaparte  had  refused  a  commercial  treaty. 

George  the  Third's  hostile  message  was  known 
to  Bonaparte  when,  five  days  later,  he  excitedly  ad- 
dressed Lord  Whitworth,  the  British  embassador, 
in  presence  of  the  entire  diplomatic  corps  :  "You 
have  news  from  London.     So  you  wish  for  war  .■*  " 

"  No,"  replied  Whitworth,  "  we  know  too  well 
the  advantages  of  peace." 

Bonaparte  continued,  "We  have  already  made 
war  for  ten  years  ;  you  wish  to  make  it  for  an- 
other ten  years  ;  you  force  it  on  me." 

Then  he  turned  to  the  Russian  and  Spanish 
embassadors  and  said  :  "  The  English  wish  for 
war  ;  if  they  arc  the  first  to  draw  the  sword,  I  will 
not  be  the  first  to  sheathe  it.  They  will  not  evacu- 
ate Malta.  Since  there  is  no  respect  for  treaties, 
it  is  necessary  to  cover  them  with  a  black  pall." 

He  then  returned  to  Whitworth  and  continued  : 

•  ikiurriciinc,  Vol.  II.  p.  8J-84.  I  by  prulcctiun. 


258  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

"  How  is  it  that  they  have  dared  to  say  that 
France  is  arming  ?  I  have  not  a  single  ship  of 
the  line  in  my  ports.  You  want  to  fight.  I  will 
fight  also.  France  may  be  destroyed,  but  intimi- 
dated, never." 

"  We  desire  neither  the  one  nor  the  other.  We 
only  aspire  to  live  on  a  good  understanding  with 
France,"  was  the  appropriate  reply  of  Whitworth. 

"  Then  treaties  must  be  respected.  Woe  to  those 
who  do  not  respect  treaties,"  said  Bonaparte.  * 

Twenty-three  days  before  (February  18)  Bona- 
parte had  violently,  and  with  his  characteristic 
lack  of  diplomatic  skill,  reproached  Lord  Whit- 
worth with  England's  enmity  towards  him,  and 
had  used  the  expression,  that  Egypt  "  was  not 
worth  the  chance  of  war.  Sooner  or  later  Egypt 
will  belong  to  France,  either  by  the  dissolution  of 
the  Turkish  empire  or  by  some  arrangement  with 
the  Porte." 

The  British  Government  took  great  umbrage  at 
these  remarks.  Their  excited  fancy  stretched 
them  to  what  plainly  they  were  not,  a  threat  to 
seize  Egypt. 

April  26,  1803,  the  British  ministry  gave  in  its 
ultimatum : 

(i.)  England  to  retain  Malta  for  ten  years,  and 
then  resign  it  to  its  inhabitants  as  an  independent 
island. 

*  This  conversation  is  mentioned  as  extraordinary  by  many  writers.  It  is, 
however,  a  single  instance  of  this  habit  of  scolding  in  which  Bonaparte  indulged 
even  on  his  trivial  household  occasions. 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     259 

(2.)  Naples  to  cede  Lampedusa  to  Great 
Britain.* 

(3.)  The  French  army  to  quit  the  Batavian 
Republic  (Holland)  and  Switzerland. 

(4.)  Indemnity  for  the  King  of  Sardinia. 

(5.)  On  these  conditions  Great  Britain  would 
recognize  the  Cisalpine  (Italian)  Republic  and  the 
kingdom  of  Etruria  (Tuscany). 

The  French  minister,  Talleyrand,  replied  that 
France  would  acquiesce  in  a  transfer  of  Malta  to 
Austria,  Russia  or  Prussia,  and  would  open  nego- 
tiations for  the  adjustment  of  every  disputed  point 
unconnected  with  the  recent  treaty,  f  George's 
ministry  refused  this  offer. 

Talleyrand  then  suggested  that  Malta  should  be 
ceded  in  perpetuity  to  Great  Britain  in  return  for 
a  proper  equivalent  to  France.  :}: 

England's  demand,  useless  to  herself  and  ag- 
gressive to  Italy,  that  the  meritlcss  "  king "  of 
Sardinia  be  "  compensated  "  in  Italy,  was  badly 
grounded.  He  had  less  right  to  compensation 
than  millions  of  other  men  conscripted  from 
occupations,  their  own  personal  property,  the  pro- 
duct of  their  own  toil  and  merit.  No  one  can 
possibly  own,  as  his  personal  property,  any 
right  to  rule,  or  any  public  office  or  employment ; 
these   all  belong  to   the  aggregate  people.     All, 

*  LampediiM  is  a  small  island,  still  uninhabited,  about  midway  between 
Malta  and  Africa. 

t  Coote,  Vol.  I.  p.  42  (British).  I  Alisun,  Vol.  II.  p.  270  (English). 


26o  THE    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

therefore,  that  this  so-called  king  of  Sardinia 
could  have  lost  was  not  his  own  property  or 
right  ;  it  was  the  property  and  right  of  the  people 
of  Sardinia  to  bestow  or  use  as  they  might  see  fit. 
And  that  people  had  no  need  or  desire  to  employ 
him  in  any  capacity.  So  there  was  nothing  to 
redress,  nothing  to  be  compensated. 

Further,  the  real  king  of  Sardinia,  Charles 
Emmanuel  the  Fourth,  had,  in  1798,  renounced  all 
power,  commanded  his  subjects  to  obey  the  pro- 
visional government  to  be  established  by  the 
French,  had  retired  to  the  island  of  Sardinia  which 
alone  he  governed  till  1802,  when  he  had  abdica- 
ted, and,  soon  after,  died.  There  was  no  real 
king  of  "  Sardinia  "  *  in  1803.  Victor  Emmanuel, 
brother  of  the  late  king,  was  only  -Sl  pretender.  He 
had  never  reigned  there.  There  was  nothing 
for  which  to  consider  him.  That  part  of  George 
the  Third's  demand  was,  therefore,  both  absurd 
and  wicked ;  a  wish  to  impose  upon  the  people 
a  king  they  did  not  want  and  never  had. 

This  worthless  pretender,  Victor  Emmanuel, 
forced  on  Italy  by  the  allies  in  18 14,  himself 
proved  a  tyrant,  restored  hated  abuses,  increased 
taxes,  persecuted  Vaudois  Christians  and  Jews  ; 
this  man,  so  thoroughly  un-British  in  his  character 
and  policy,  was  yet  put  forward,  and  his  usurpation 
asked,  and  his  refusal  made  one  of  the  main  pre- 
texts, not  only  for  the   British  War,  but  for  the 

*  Savoy  and  Piedmont. 


THE  world's  greatest  COXFLICT.     261 

bloody  coalition  of  Britain,  Russia,  Sweden  and 
Austria,  against  France  ;  it  was  the  pretext  that 
resulted  in  Trafalgar,  Ulm  and  Austerlitz  in  1805, 
and  for  the  war  of  1806,  so  severely  disastrous  to 
Prussia ;  and  for  twelve  years  devastating  war 
continued,  with  but  twelve  months'  intermission. 
These  nations  might  well  have  dropped  his 
worthless  cause  ;  they  had  ample  cause  against 
Bonaparte,  without  degrading  the  great  struggle 
by  effort  to  force  this  unworthy  adventurer  on 
unwilling  Piedmont.  Still  these  terms  offered  by 
England  were  better  for  France  than  war,  and  the 
terms  offered  by  France  were  better  for  England 
than  George  the  Third  could  hope  to  obtain  by  war. 


LXXIX. 

THERE  were  two  men,  who,  by  acting  with 
a  manly  courtesy,  and  a  wise  statesman- 
ship, could  have  prevented  the  bloody  war  that,  for 
more  than  twelve  years  longer,  was  to  devastate 
Europe,  scourge  mankind,  crush 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  honest  Badness  of 
men   into   bloody  graves,  and   fill  all       o"apartcand 

J     '^  '  George  the 

Europe  with  cripples,  and   with   the  xhird. 

hopeless    mourning    of    widows,    or- 
l^hans   and    bereaved    parents.     These    two    men 
placed  in  position  to  bless  mankind,  deliberately 
became  its  scourge. 


262  THE    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

Immeasurable  human  happiness  was  sacrificed, 
and  wholesale,  indescribable  misery  to  vast  num- 
bers of  human  beings  was  caused  by  the  stubborn 
will-passion  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte  and  George 
the  Third. 

At  the  combined  invitation  of  these  two  bad  men, 
misery  came,  and  it  ruined  the  fairest  prospects, 
and  blasted  the  hopes  of  human  happiness. 

The  French  historian  Lanfrey  says  of  Bona- 
parte :  "  In  contempt  of  the  will  of  the  nation 
that  hungered  for  the  benefits  of  peace,  and  in 
order  to  avenge  his  miserable  affront,  millions  of 
men  were  to  fight  for  more  than  ten  years,  to  tear 
each  other  to  pieces,  to  die  all  kinds  of  deaths,  on 
all  continents,  on  all  seas,  at  every  hour  of  day  and 
night,  in  deserts,  on  mountains,  in  snows,  in  flam- 
ing cities,  in  obscurest  villages,  from  the  Tagus  to 
the  Neva,  from  the  Baltic  to  the  Gulf  of  Tarant." 
"  And  this  war  he  began  to  force  England  to  vio- 
late hospitality  to  proscribed  men."  * 

When  the  Amiens  treaty  was  signed,  and  for 
months  before,  George  the  Third  had  full  notice 
that  Bonaparte  was  aggressive  in  Italy,  Switzerland 
and  Holland.  He  knew  that  Bonaparte  had  refused 
to  treat  with  him  on  these  subjects.  He  knew  that 
France  controlled  those  three  countries.  He  well 
knew  that  Bonaparte  never  relinquished  any  item 
of  his  power.  All  the  change  in  the  situation  that 
had   occurred   could  have  been    foreseen.     Great 

*Lanfrey's  Histor>'  of  Napoleon,  Vol.  II.  p.  282. 


4 

THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  263 

Britain  had  been  very  liberal,  even  generous,  in  the 
terms  of  the  treaty.  Plainly  George  repented  of 
the  bargain.  He  wished  to  withhold  a  part  of  the 
liberal  price  that  Britain  had  contracted  to  pay. 

Malta  was  not  worth  to  England  the  cost  of  one 
month  of  war,  even  though  bloodless.  Nearly  all 
the  advantages  offered  by  possession  of  Malta 
could,  by  either  party,  have  been  found  elsewhere. 
The  British  did  not  need  two  Gibraltars  in  the 
Mediterranean. 

George  the  Third  in  1799  had,  with  unmannerly 
rudeness,  repulsed  Consul  Bonaparte's  peace  over- 
tures and  prolonged  a  war,  entirely  fruitless  of 
further  advantage  to  the  British,  on  the  bare  pre- 
text that  he  could  not  trust  the  French  Consul  to 
keep  treaties  ! 

Now  George  had  contradicted  himself  by  mak- 
ing the  treaty  of  Amiens  and  by  proposing  ulti- 
matum with  that  same  Consul,  thus  acknowledging 
how  wrong  he  was  in  1799. 

How  could  Bonaparte  now  trust  George  in  a  new 
treaty  while  George  refused  to  keep  one  so 
recent  .'' 

Bonaparte  had  skillfully  put  the  burden  of 
breaking  the  peace  upon  George. 

The  George  the  Third  government  was  not,  like 
that  of  to-day,  representative  of  a  nation  of  almost 
universal  intelligence.  Few  nations  have  in  this 
nineteenth  century  made  progress  equal  to  that  of 
Great  Britain.     In    1803  not  a  single  tree  public 


264  TIIK    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

school  for  common  children  existed  in  England. 
Many  men  could  not  read,  livery  half-sheet  copy 
of  a  newspaper  was  stamp  taxed  4d.,  equal  to  8d. 
now  (sixteen  cents).  The  seats  in  the  House  of 
Commons  were  owned  by  a  few  persons,  and  were 
bought  and  sold  like  merchandise.  The  British 
people  were  not  represented. 

But  few  of  the  British  people  knew  that  King 
George  was  of  natural  abilities  below  the  average 
Englishman.  Few  knew  that  in  superb  stupidity 
he  was  solid  as  lead. 

Bonaparte  was  usually  a  bad  diplomatist,*  rude 
and  insulting  in  manner,  indelicate  in  expression, 
arbitrary  and  overbearing  in  his  demands. 

He  broke  everything  that  stood  in  his  way.  He 
pledged  himself  to  French  liberty  ;  he  utterly  de- 
stroyed it.  He  invoked  the  Christian  religion  ;  he 
ruthlessly  broke  all  its  most  sacred  principles. 
He  boasted  of  his  honor  ;  he  was  the  champion 
falsifier  of  the  world.  He  pretended  generosity  ; 
he  was  the  most  egregiously  selfish  man  of  the  age. 
He  promised  protection  to  the  Dutch  ;  he  pro- 
voked their  repeated  pillage  by  his  enemies  ;  he 
immensely  robbed  them  himself.  He  professed 
friendship  for  Charles  the  Fourth  and  Spain,  yet 
he  swindled  them  (for  it  was  a  swindle)  out  of  Louis- 
iana. He  called  France  a  republic  ;  yet  his  gov- 
ernment was  actually  almost  unlimited  monarchy. 
He  governed  in  the  name  of  "  the  Republic  "  ;  he 

•  Bourrienne.     Lanfrey. 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     265 

traded  German  free  cities  to  princes.  He  pro- 
fessed to  be  the  defender  of  liberty  ;  he  was  the 
man-stealer  who  re-established  slavery  in  the 
French  West  Indies.  He  expected  England  to 
trust  him  ;  at  that  very  moment  he  revealed  his 
hope  of  obtaining  Egypt,  which  would  be  a  constant 
menace  to  British  East  India  trade  and  empire. 

Had  the  two  governments  willed  it,  the  world 
must  then  have  secured  a  long  and  profound  peace, 
with  great  progress  and  improvements.  One  had 
overwhelming  power  on  the  seas,  the  other  was 
dominant  in  Continental  Europe. 

Europe  was  alarmed  by  Bonaparte's  willful,  ex- 
acting temper,  over-ready  to  quarrel,  to  seize  any 
undue  advantage  offered  by  the  distress  of  any 
nation  to  convert  the  rights,  property  or  liberty  of 
men  into  spoil,  to  be  traded  in  diplomacy  or  gam- 
bled for  on  the  card-table  of  war.  His  character 
was  known  in  Europe  as  afterwards  described 
by  his  close  observer,  Madame  Remusat,  who  saw 
him  often. 

"Although  very  remarkable  for  certain  intel- 
lectual qualities,  no  man,  it  must  be  allowed,  was 
ever  less  lofty  of  soul.  There  was  no  generosity, 
no  true  greatness  in  him.  I  have  never  known 
him  to  admire,  I  have  never  known  him  to  com- 
prehend a  fine  action.  He  always  regarded  every 
indication  of  good  feeling  with  suspicion.  He  did 
not  value  sincerity  ;  he  did  not  hesitate  to  say  that 
he   recognized   the   superiority   of  a  man    by  the 


266       THE  world's  greatest  conflict. 

greater  or  less  degree  of  cleverness  with  which  he 
used  the  art  of  lying."  * 

LXXX. 

GEORGE  THE  THIRD'S  ministry  resolved 
on  war  May  i6,  1803.     It  was  made,  but 
never  olFicially  declared.     Sir  Walter  Scott  says : 
"  The   bloody  war,  which  succeeded 
War.  the   short    peace    of    Amiens,    origi- 

nated, to  use  the  words  of  the  satirist, 
in  high  words,  jealousies  and  fears.  There  was  no 
special  or  determinate  cause  of  quarrel  which  could 
be  removed  by  explanation,  apology  or  concession." 
Another  English  historian  says  :  "  The  alleged 
encroachments  and  insults  were  not  real  justifica- 
tions of  hostility.  The  arbitrary  conduct  of  the 
aspiring  ruler   of    France  indisputably  suggested 

*  R^musat,  Memoirs,  p.  9. 

Note.  Tlie  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  stated  the  value  of  British  produce 
and  manufactures  exported  in  1802  at  "  little  short  of  £s°i°°°>°°°-"  This  would 
be  about  ,^8,000,000  more  than  in  1801,  a  year  of  war,  while  1802  had  nine  months 
of  peace. 

Knight  states  it  at  .£41, 000,000. t  The  government  expended  in  1802,  besides 
sinking  fund,  the  enormous  sum  of  .£73, 44', 403.  which  is  ^23,000,000,  or  more 
than  156  per  cent,  of  the  entire  value  tliat  year  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland's  ex- 
ports! As  but  ;{;6,798,i62  in  exchequer  bills  were  redeemed  more  than  issued, 
and  ^27, 550, 449  were  obtained  on  loan,  thus  considerably  increasing  the  national 
debt,  it  is  evident  that  George  continued  war  expenditure  in  preparation  for 
renewal  of  the  war. 


t  "  In  1801,  before  the  peace  of  Amiens,  the  official  value  of  our  (British) 
exports  was  thirty-seven  millions;  in  1802,  a  year  of  uninterrupted  peace,  they 
had  risen  to  forty-one  millions;  in  1S03,  when  peace  was  broken,  they  fell  to 
thirty-one  millions."  —C.  Knight'' s  History  0/ England,  Vol,  VII.  p.  184. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  26/ 

the  expediency  of  precaution  ;  but  it  was  not  so 
open  and  decisive  as  to  provoke  or  authorize  san- 
guinary extremities." 

Great  Britain  had  but  one  great  competitor,  the 
United  States,  in  the  world's  carrying  trade,  and 
during  peace  Britain  had  much  the  larger  share. 
Her  own  trade  was  in  every  market  of  the  world. 
Her  naval  force  was  greater  than  the  world  had 
ever  before  seen. 

What  George  expected  to  win  by  war  is  obscure. 
There  was  not  a  single  item  of  his  complaint 
against  France  that  he  could  hope  to  enforce ! 
Strange  war  !  The  two  contestants  could  not  get 
at  each  other  !  This  was  certainly  a  remarkable 
spectacle.  France  "  could  not  cope  with"  Britain 
at  sea  ;  and  "  England  could  not  cope  single- 
handed  with  France"  on  French  land.  Except 
through  allies  they  could  hardly  carry  on  active 
hostilities.  Must  the  war  have  for  its  end,  then, 
only  the  expression  of  deadly  hate  ? 

The  French  did  not  desire  war.  Madame 
Remusat  says  :  "  Nobody  in  France  wanted  any- 
thing but  quiet,  the  right  to  free  exercise  of  the 
intellect,  the  cultivation  of  the  private  virtues  and 
the  reparation  by  degrees  of  those  losses  of  fortune 
common  to  all." 

In  England  war  was  lamentable  ;  it  destroyed  all 
hope  of  early  relief  of  the  heavy  burden  of  taxes  ;  of 
improving  the  nation  ;  of  educating  the  people  ;  of 
giving  the  people  a  representative  House  of  Com- 


268  THK    world's    GRF.ATF.ST    CONFLICT. 

mons  ;  of  spreading  the  real  Christian  spirit  of 
kindness  and  happiness. 

Within  recent  years  France  had  extended  her 
frontiers  to  the  Rhine,  obtained  Belgium,  Savoy, 
Piedmont,  Genoa,  seized  the  Valais,  got  control  of 
Holland,  Switzerland,  and  nearly  all  Italy,  and 
secured  the  dominating  influence  in  Spain. 

Great  Britain  had  vastly  extended  her  Indian 
empire,  taken  from  the  Dutch  Ceylon  and  Guiana ; 
from  Spain,  Trinidad  and  Minorca ;  and  from 
France  its  East  Indian  possessions  and  Malta 
(which  France  had  taken  from  the  knights).  Rus- 
sia, Austria  and  Prussia  had  increased  by  dividing 
Poland  between  them. 

Thus  each  of  the  five  great  powers  had  extended 
its  dominion. 

The  French  army  was  427,910  men,*  besides  a 
sreat  number  of  Dutch,  Swiss  and  Italian  auxil- 
iaries  and  the  French  National  Guard  (militia)  and 
the  coast  guard. 

The  French  revenue  of  1803  was  over  570,000,- 
000  francs  ($110,000,000)  besides  the  great  subsidy 
forced  from  Spain  ($13,900,000  yearly),  and  from 
Italy  and  Portugal  and  maintenance  of  French 
troops  by  Holland,  Naples,  Tuscany  and  Hanover. 

The  British  ministry  called  out  80,000  militia  in 
March.  130,000  men  for  regular  army  were  voted, 
and  in  June  40,000  more  for  England  and  10,000 

•Report  of  the  French  War  Minister,  June,  1803;   viz.:    341,000  infantry, 
26,000  artillery,  46,350  cavalry,  and  14,560  invalids. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  269 

for  Ireland,  by  drafting.  The  ministry  calculated 
that  this  would  raise  the  regular  army  at  home  to 
112,000,  besides  "a  large  force"  for  offensive 
operations. 

50,000  seamen  and  marines  were  voted,  and  then 
10,000  more,  and  again  40,000  more.  * 

Seventy-five  ships  of  the  line  and  270  frigates 
and  smaller  vessels,  and  hundreds  of  gunboats  were 
put  in  commission.! 

The  enormous  property  tax  of  five  per  cent,  was 
made.  Other  heavy  imposts  were  laid.  Yet  the 
great  national  debt  was  constantly  increasing. 

The  expenditures  for  1803  were  ^59,656,983  ; 
many  times  the  value  of  Malta  to  the  British. 

Of  the  twelve  newspapers  to  which  Bonaparte's 
decree  of  1799  ^^^^  reduced  the  Paris  press,  but 
eight  remained,  with  but  eighteen  thousand  six 
hundred  and  thirty  subscribers.  This  small  num- 
ber shows  how  little  Paris  read  the  little  news  that 
Bonaparte's  strict  censorship  permitted  to  be 
printed ;  little  but  that  copied  from  the  official 
Monitcur.  J 

Political  discussion  was  denied  to  the  people. 
The  PVench  did  not  know  the  facts. 

To  make  the  war  popular,  Bonaparte  required 
great  numbers  of  the  officials  to  get  up  ad- 
dresses to  him.  This  was  to  affect  the  people. 
He  stirred  up  the  bishops  to  preach  war.     They 

•  Ali.vin,  Vol.  11.  p.  i»i.  t  Alison;   Laiifroy,  Vol.  II.  p.  30^. 

}  Bonaparte  to  kcKnicr,  June  3,  ilk>3. 


2/0  THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

forgot  that  the  doctrines  of  Jesus  are  peace  and 
good-will;  they  "issued  pastorals  in  which  they 
exhorted  the  people  to  arm  itself  for  a  just  war." 
"  Choose  men  of  good  courage  and  go  forth  to 
fight  Amalek,"  was  the  slogan  raised  by  the  bishop 
of  Arras.* 

To  avoid  extra  taxes  on  France  Bonaparte  de- 
termined that  other  peoples  should  bear  them. 
This  would  strengthen  his  finances,  and  not  cause 
French  outcry  against  taxes.  Therefore  he  com- 
pelled the  contribution  treaty  of  June,  1803,  with 
Holland. 

As  part  of  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Russia  in 
1 80 1,  Bonaparte  had  withdrawn  his  troops  from 
Naples.  Now  he  claimed  a  right  to  send  them 
back  as  part  of  his  war  with  England. 

He  sent  a  large  force  and  compelled  the  King  of 
Naples  to  feed,  clothe  and  pay  them.  He  occupied 
Tarrentium,  which,  with  its  extensive  fortifications 
and  capacious  harbor,  seemed  to  secure  to  France 
all  the  uses  to  which  they  might  have  applied 
Malta,  and  thus  practically  offset  the  British  pos- 
session of  that  island. 

Bonaparte  had  compelled  recognition  of  himself 
as  "  Protector"  in  Switzerland.  Now  he  required 
a  new  treaty.  This  contract,  offensive  and  defen- 
sive, compelled  Switzerland  to  furnish  him  with 
sixteen  thousand  soldiers  besides  four  thousand  in 
charge  of  supply  depots,  and,  in  case  of  attack  on 

*  R^musat. 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  2/1 

French  territory,  eight  thousand  more,  making  in 
all  twenty-eight  thousand  or  nearly  one  twentieth 
of  the  male  population.*  The  French  Directory 
had  in  1798  robbed  the  Swiss  treasury  at  Berne 
of  a  large  sum  of  money  which  Bonaparte  used  to 
fit  out  the  ill-starred  Egyptian  expedition.  Now 
Switzerland,  by  many  disturbances,  had  become 
too  poor  to  furnish  material  for  even  that  expert 
practical  robber  to  recruit  his  funds. 

At  that  time  impressment,  the  worst  form  of 
servitude,  existed  in  England.  It  recruited  its 
navy  by  this  high-handed  tyranny.  Armed  bands 
seized  any  eligible  seamen  between  the  ages  of 
eighteen  and  fifty-five,  and  carried  them  by  force 
on  board  ships  of  war,  where  they  were  compelled 
to  serve.  The  impressed  seamen  often  fought  the 
press  gangs,  and  men  were  killed.  Armed  men 
boarded  ships  of  their  own  nation  and  kidnaped 
the  best  men.  Sometimes  Napoleon  used  this 
same  odious  system. 

Privateering  is  a  black  stain  on  that  generation 
in  Europe  and  America.  But  George  the  Third 
went  further  and  violated  the  law  of  nations  and 
of  humanity  by  issuing  letters  of  marque  before 
war  was  known  to  exist  !  On  May  20  his  licensed 
pirates  captured  two  French  vessels.  Many  others 
were  taken  before  notice  of  the  war. 

Three  days  earlier  Bonaparte  had  done  unjustly, 
lie  had  sent  notice  to  General  Clarke  in  Italy,  "it 

•  Lanfrcy,  Vol.  11.  p.  jii. 


2^2        THE  world's  grf.atf.st  confmct. 

is  the  intention  of  the  First  Consul  that  a  general 
embargo  be  laid  in  the  ports  of  Tuscany."  Simi- 
lar instructions  were  sent  to  French  agents  in 
Holland  and  Genoa.*  The  object  was  to  seize 
British  ships  and  cargoes  in  ports. 

Bonaparte  cruelly  ordered  the  arrest  of  all  Eng- 
lish travelers  in  France  to  retaliate  the  seizure  of 
the  two  French  ships.  George  refused  restitution 
and  Napoleon  held  the  English  travelers  as  pris- 
oners of  war  for  eleven  years  —  till  released  by  his 
overthrow  in  1814  —  a  great  barbarism.  Romily 
(English)  says  :  "  If  it  had  been  Bonaparte's  ob- 
ject to  give  strength  to  the  British  ministry  and  to 
make  the  war  universally  popular  in  England,  he 
could  not  have  devised  a  better  expedient." 

George  and  Bonaparte  had  gone  to  war  pro- 
fessedly to  "save  their  honor,"  and  the  first  war 
act  of  each  was  dishonorable  !  One  warred  on 
defenseless  vessels,  the  other  on  defenseless  trav- 
elers ;  both  on  peaceful  merchants. 

Great  Britain  offered  to  respect  Holland's  neu- 
trality if  Holland  would  get  the  French  troops  to 
leave  her  territory.  But  Bonaparte  required  of 
Holland  to  make  with  him  the  treaty  of  June,  1803. 
By  this  Holland  was  compelled  to  support  eigh- 
teen thousand  French  and  sixteen  thousand  Dutch 
troops;  to  furnish  Bonaparte  five  ships,  five  frig- 
ates, one  hundred  gunboats,  two  hundred  flat-boats 
and   several   hundred    transports.!     This  from    a 

*  Lanfrey,  Vol.  II.  p.  310.  t  Ibid. 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     273 

friendly  people,  who  had  lost  their  commerce  by 
alliance  with  him  !  Bonaparte  promised  to  restore 
their  colonies  ;  a  promise  that  only  Great  Britain 
could  perform. 

The  luckless  Dutch  were  the  victims  of  both 
friends  and  foes.  The  British  ministry  seized 
Dutch  Cape  Town  during  the  peace  !  Great  num- 
bers of  Dutch  vessels  traded  at  that  far-off  port. 
George  licensed  privateers,  little  better  than  the 
open  piracy  of  Algiers  ;  these  robbed  the  inoffen- 
sive Dutch  Cape  traders,  whose  only  fault  was 
their  misfortune  that  already  a  foreign  enemy, 
Bonaparte,  held  their  country  by  a  conquest  called 
an  alliance.     England  usually  hangs  pirates. 


LXXXI. 

GKORGr:    THE   THIRD    of   England   was 
Elector  of  Hanover.     This  did  not  unite 
that  country  to  England.     Hanover  was  misgov- 
erned by  George  and  a  German  min- 
ister, not  in  Hanover,  but  in  England,        Hanover, 
and  by  an  oligarchy  in  Hanover;  and  1803. 

it  was  troubled    by  such  bad  charac- 
ters as  the  dissolute  sons  of  George,  the  dukes  of 
Cumberland  and  Cambridge.* 

George  declared  Hanover  neutral.     Bona|)arle 
never  lost  an  opportunity,  right  or  wrong.     In  pure 

•  SchloMcr,  Vol.  VII.  pp.  364-366. 


274  '^''^E    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

aggression,  he  sent  General  Mortier  with  a  French 
army  into  Hanover,  June  3,  1803.  Hanover's  army 
was  too  weak  to  resist.  General  Mortier  allowed  it 
to  retire  beyond  the  Elbe,  on  condition  not  to  serve 
against  France  or  its  allies  till  duly  exchanged. 
George  stupidly  refused  to  ratify  this  arrangement. 
Then  Mortier  compelled  its  surrender  as  prisoners 
of  war,  with  nearly  four  hundred  cannon,  thirty 
thousand  muskets,  four  thousand  horses,  and  all 
of  Hanover's  military  stores ;  and  he  quartered 
the  French  army  on  that  country.  "Thus  thirty 
thousand  of  our  troops  were  lodged,  fed  and 
equipped  at  the  expense  of  foreigners,"  says  Lan- 
frey.  Bonaparte  had  obtained  a  great  amount  of 
war  material  to  use  against  England  and  her  allies, 
at  the  expense  of  the  stupid  George  who  had 
placed  them  accessible  to  him  and  refused  terms 
that  might  have  saved  them. 

The  French  occupied  the  free  cities  of  Ham- 
burg and  Bremen.  Bonaparte  stationed  troops  in 
Cuxhaven,  and  closed  the  Elbe  to  British  com- 
merce. He  exacted  from  the  free  towns  large 
sums  of  money.     It  was  robbery. 

The  Hanoverians  were  ready  for  a  change  of 
masters.  Everything  was  made  easy  for  the 
French.*  Every  civil  officer  remained  at  his  post, 
and  through  them,  a  civil  commission,  with  the 
Hanover  supreme  judge  at  its  head,  governed  the 
country  for  the  French.     There  was  nothing  in  it 

*  Schlosser,  Vol.  VIL  pp.  364-366. 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     2^5 

to  disturb  the  real  people.  It  was  merely  the  old 
game  played  — arbitrary  ruler  against  despotic  ruler 
—  and  both  against  the  people.  True,  Bonaparte 
robbed  them  of  a  great  sum  ;  but  George  and  his  re- 
lations and  friends  had  always  been  exacting  money. 

As  soon  as  the  French  took  Hanover,  George 
sent  British  ships  to  blockade  the  Elbe  and  the 
Weser,  and  thus  stupidly  cut  off  his  own  patri- 
mony, Hanover,  from  the  trade  of  his  own  British 
kingdom  !  It  is  not  easy  to  see  any  wisdom  in 
that  statecraft,  for  it  injured  both  Great  Britain 
and  Hanover,  and  not  the  French, 

The  King  of  Prussia  offered  if  George  would 
remove  this  blockade  and  open  navigation  of 
these  rivers,  that  he  would  cause  Hanover  to  be 
occupied  by  Prussian  troops,  that  he  would  hold 
it  for  George,  and  in  due  time  evacuate  it.  With 
surprising  lack  of  statesmanship,  George  and  his 
cabinet  refused  this  offer  !  And  this  George  and 
Pitt  called  saving  the  honor  of  England  ! 

Russia,  Austria  and  Denmark  were  displeased 
with  the  I'rench  occupancy  of  Hanover.  They 
exchanged  angry  notes  with  France.  Thus  seized 
in  1803,  it  remained  under  Bonaparte's  rule  until  in 
1 81 3  he  lost  it  by  the  result  of  the  Russian  war 
of   181 2. 

The  King  of  Prussia  at  first  warmly  seconded 
Russia  in  its  remonstrances  against  French  occu- 
pation and  money  exactions  in  North  Germany. 
But     Bonaparte    hinted    that    possibly    Hanover 


276  Tin.    WuKI.d's    (,1<|;.\  TI.Sl"    ('(WIT.ICT. 

might  fall  to  Prussia.  The  King  of  Prussia,  not 
strong  enough  to  contend  with  the  colossal  power 
of  Bonaparte,  remained  quiet  and  negotiated.  He 
hoped  to  gain  by  neutrality.  He  urged  Bonaparte 
to  evacuate  Cuxhaven,  to  reopen  Prussian  com- 
merce. In  exchange  he  offered  to  guarantee  the 
good-will  of  Germany  to  France.  But  Bonaparte, 
as  usual,  wanted  everything.  He  offered  to  give 
George's  Hanover  to  Prussia  if,  as  an  off-set, 
Prussia  would  make  alliance  offensive  and  defen- 
sive with  him.  Of  course  this  offer  meant  sub- 
serviency. It  meant  war  between  Prussia  and  the 
British.     Prussia  declined  the  offer. 

In  December,  1803,  an  agreement  was  concluded 
by  which  Bonaparte  promised  that  Prussia  should 
be  consulted  in  all  negotiations  as  to  Hanover. 

Bonaparte's  occupancy  of  Hanover  and  the  free 
cities,  and  his  robbery  of  them,  were  in  shameful 
violation  of  the  rights  of  neutrals.  They  awak- 
ened the  jealousy  of  other  nations,  and  made  a 
great  sensation.  Russia  sent  notes  of  angry 
remonstrance  ;  Austria  protested  ;  Prussia  was 
alarmed ;  Denmark  assembled  thirty  thousand 
men  to  defend  its  territory. 

But  Russia  was  too  far  off,  Austria  too  unready, 
and  Prussia  wisely  loved  peace.  So  the  anger  of 
the  North  took  expression  in  words  and  diplomatic 
remonstrances. 

British  trade  made  a  market  for  Russia's  pro- 
duce.    Friendship  with  France  was  of  less  value. 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.    2// 


Russia  declined  to  join  with  other  powers  to 
guarantee  ]\Ialta  as  neutral.  The  Czar  of  Russia 
was  displeased  by  Bonaparte's  occupation  of 
Naples.  Bonaparte  replied  that  he  could  see  no 
more  reason  why  Russia  should  interfere  with  the 
affairs  of  Italy,  than  France  should  meddle  with 
those  of  Persia.  Recriminations  followed.  War 
was  coming.  Russia  and  Prussia  agreed  (May 
3-24,  1803)  not  to  allow  French  troops  to  ap- 
proach east  of  Hanover. 

The  Czar  was  willing  to  leave  undisturbed  the 
French  usurpation  in  Switzerland  if  Bonaparte 
would  not  meddle  with  the  Ionian  Isles,  then  under 
Russian  protection.  But  Bonaparte's  troops  in 
Ancona,  Otranto  and  Brindisi  in  Italy,  were  too 
near  Turkey,  which  they  might  aid  to  annoy 
Russia. 

LXXXII. 

IN  the  war  of    1756-63,  Great   Britain   almost 
cleared  the  ocean  of  French  vessels.     To  trade 
with  its  colonies,  France  admitted  neutral  vessels, 
and  thus,  under  neutral  flags,  a  vast 
amount    of    French    goods    was    pro-        "Rule  of 
tcctcd  from  liritish  cruisers.     Great       ^^^  war  of 
Britain  adopted  a  rule  that  neutrals  «756-" 

have  in  war  time  no  right  to  carry  on 
a  trade  bewccn  a  country  and  its  colonics,  which 
the  mother  country  prohibits  in  time  of  peace ;  that 


278  THE    WOKI.n's    ORF.ATF.ST    CONTLICT. 

it  is  a  shirking  of  tiic  risks  of  war  by  a  belligerent, 
and  is  unduly  rewarding  neutrals. 

The  British,  applying  "the  rule  of  the  war  of 
1756,"  adopted  when  America  was  part  of  the 
British  empire  and  an  active  participant  in  that 
war  —  known  as  the  "  French  and  Indian  War  "  — 
and  then  a  beneficiary  of  the  rule,  now  seized 
and  confiscated  many  American  vessels  carrying 
French  property.  In  other  cases  British  cruisers 
searched  American  vessels,  took  away  the  French 
goods  and  allowed  the  vessels  to  go  free.  But  in 
1803,  under  Washington's  "Jay  treaty,"  a  commis- 
sion awarded  and  Great  Britain  paid  to  American 
merchants  about  $6,000,000  for  illegal  captures,  less 
about  half  that  sum  similarly  awarded  by  the  com- 
mission to  British  merchants.  This  award  indicates 
great  aggression  by  as  well  as  upon  Americans. 

LXXXIII. 

SPAIN  is  the  home  of  a  brave  people.     It  had 
many  honorable  men  who,  in  a  republic  or 
liberal  monarchy  would  have  been  at  the  front  of 
affairs.     But  heredity  gave  it  as  king  the  miserable 
Charles    the    Fourth.       Godoy,    the 
The  affairs       wickcd  Ouecn's    favoritc,  ruled  over 
°^|^^'"'        Spain's  ten   million  inhabitants  with 

little  respect  from  Europe. 
Torture,  abolished  in  Russia  in   1801,  was  still 
lawful  in  Spain,  was  used  to  extort  confessions  of 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     2/9 

guilt.  So  restricted  was  trade  that  only  common 
carriers  could  buy  and  sell  grain  without  the  king's 
special  license. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  Spain  ranked  as  the 
fourth  European  power  in  territory,  fifth  in  reve- 
nue, first  in  extent  of  colonies  including  the 
countries  richest  in  soil,  produce  and  mines,  with 
nearly  twenty  millions  of  people. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
however,  Spain  was  weak,  wretched.  Rich  only 
in  superstition,  redundant  only  in  priests  and  gran- 
dees. It  had  no  good  roads,  no  canals,  very  few 
manufactures.  Industry  or  capital  had  little 
chance.  Most  land  was  in  entailed  estates  of  ab- 
sentee grandees,  poorly  tilled,  badly  managed. 
Its  policy  was  restrictive.  It  tried  to  make  the 
Carribbean  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  its  own  closed 
seas,  allowed  but  thirty-four  vessels,  some  of  them 
small,  to  sail  between  Spain  and  America,  and 
but  four  to  the  West  Indies.  Spain  owned  all  the 
coasts  of  these  two  great  seas  ;  all  their  valuable 
islands  except  Jamaica  and  Hayti.  The  world, 
not  excepting  Great  Britain,  submitted  to  this 
great  claim  which  made  closed  seas  of  these  two 
extensive  natural  highways  for  the  world's  trade 
and  friendly  intercourse ;  an  acquiescence  repug- 
nant to  the  best  interests  of  commerce  and  of  the 
civilization  of  that  part  oi  the  world,  thus  very  far 
exceeding  the  present  American  claim  to  the  Beh- 
ring  Sea  seal  harvest.      Its  American  colonies  re- 


280  THE    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT, 

quired  British  goods ;  as  Spain  had  none,  they 
were  sent  to  Cadiz  and  re-shipped  in  these  Span- 
ish vessels. 

The  national  debt  (1800)  was  $215,737,000.* 

So  imbecile  was  the  king  that  in  1802,  a  junto, 
appointed  to  ascertain  the  Spanish  revenues  and 
costs  of  collection,  knavishly  presented  him  an  old 
report,  made  in  1789,  by  Lessena,  as  their  own, 
rightly  judging  that  he  would  never  discover  their 
fraud. 

The  Spanish  are  of  a  mixed  race,  dialect  and 
character.  Dwelling  mostly  in  uncomfortable  and 
badly  furnished  houses,  little  was  needed  and  little 
obtained  to  support  them  in  their  lack  of  energy. 
The  love  of  music  and  dancing,  the  use  of  weapons, 
intrigue  and  intolerance  were  general  characteris- 
tics. Castilian  is  the  literary  language,  but  not 
the  dialect  of  Andalusia,  Catalonia,  Valencia,  the 
Balearic  Isles  and  the  Basque  provinces. 

Possessing  a  locally  varying  climate,  a  compact 
and  remarkably  fine  commercial  location  between 
the  two  seas,  the  most  important  for  the  world's 
trade,  and  a  very  diversified  surface,  it  was  once 
the  most  opulent  kingdom  of  Europe.  It  was  for 
three  centuries  the  richest  province  of  the  Roman 
empire;  a  bountiful  granary,  rich  in  gold  and  other 
metals,  and  improved  with  a  vast  system  of  canals, 
aqueducts  and  other  public  works,  now  in  ruins. 

Yet   throughout    nearly  all   of    the   eighteenth 

•  Scott. 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     281 

century  business  there  was  stagnant,  and  easy 
squalor  was  preferred  to  labor  and  plenty.  "  Even 
the  laws  cast  dishonor  on  mechanic  labor."  * 

Two  thousand  years  ago  Spain  was  far  from 
being  a  new  country.  Yet  the  continuous  occu- 
pancy of  from  sixty  to  a  hundred  successive  gen- 
erations have  not  made  such  improvements  as  to 
render  it  in  1801  a  well-tilled  land. 

The  population  from  1500  to  1700  appears  to 
have  actually  decreased  between  two  and  three 
millions. 

The  nobility  are  numerous  ;  the  lower  noblesse 
generally  very  poor,  and  the  beggars  many.  In 
i860  nearly  five  hundred  thousand  persons  were 
supported  in  one  thousand  and  twenty-eight  char- 
itable institutions. 

Before  the  suppression  of  the  monasteries  in 
1836,  about  one  fifth  of  the  whole  population  were 
in  the  employ  of  the  Church.  It  had  far  more 
priestcraft  than  prosperity. 

The  treaty  of  St.  Ildefonso  of  1796  bound 
France  and  Spain  alike  in  perpetuity  to  a  stated 
amount  of  help  by  each  to  the  other  in  case  of 
war,  "without  discussion."     (Article  VIII.) 

In  1788  Charles  the  Third  of  Spain  died.  The 
heir  to  the  throne,  Prince  Philip,  was  an  imbecile. 
So  he  was  set  aside,  and  his  brother,  imbecile  in 
moral  sense,  honor,  honesty,  patriotism  and  de- 
cency, became  Charles  the  Fourth.     Certainly  it 

•  Bancroft. 


282  THK    WOKLlVs    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

was  not  God  who  sent  to  rule  a  great  people,  a 
man  far  below  the  average  of  his  subjects  in 
manliness. 

Louisiana,  first  taken  as  French  by  La  Salle  in 
1682,  and  colonized  many  years  later,  was  trans- 
ferred to  Spain  in  1762. 

By  secret  treaty  of  March  18,  1801,  bad  Charles 
the  Fourth  embezzled  from  Spain  the  great  Louis- 
iana Territory,  and  gave  it  to  Bonaparte  in  ex- 
change for  the  empty  title  "King  of  Etruria" 
(Tuscany),  for  his  son-in-law,  the  boy  duke  of 
Parma.  The  boy  became  only  a  puppet  king,  for 
Bonaparte  still  ruled  Etruria. 

Louisiana  was  all  that  country  between  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  and  British  America  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  and  west  of  the  whole  length  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  and  a  broad  strip  east  of  that 
river  that  separated  United  States  territory  from 
the  Gulf.  This  strip  extended  east  to  the  Perdido 
River. 

The  Spanish  officials  remained  there.  They, 
desiring  to  make  western  Americans  realize  the 
advantage  of  secession  from  the  United  States  and 
union  with  Spain,  which  they  hoped  would  recover 
Louisiana  from  France,  withdrew  the  right  given 
by  our  Spanish  treaty  of  1795,  for  Americans  to 
deposit  goods  at  New  Orleans. 

Spain  still  held  the  strip  east  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  also  Florida.  Thus  it  held  the  outlet  of  all  the 
navigable  rivers  into  the  Gulf. 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     283 

The  adjacent  parts  of  the  United  States  must 
have  access  to  the  sea.  A  union  with  Spain  of- 
fered it. 

The  denial  of  deposit  made  great  commotion. 
Kentucky,  alarmed,  indignant,  called  on  Congress 
for  aid.  The  prospect  was  threatening.  The 
West  called  for  war  with  Spain  (February,  1803). 

Congress  responded  by  authorizing  President 
Jefferson  to  prepare  eighty  thousand  volunteers, 
and  appropriated  two  million  dollars.  News  of 
Charles  the  Sixth's  foolish  sale  made  great  con- 
sternation. To  fight  Napoleon  would  be  quite  a 
formidable  affair.  He  had  made  peace  with  Eng- 
land and  could  send  an  immense  army  to  America. 

Much  as  Jefferson  and  his  party  admired  Napo- 
leon, they  did  not  want  him  for  a  neighbor.  His 
rapacity  was  too  dangerous.  The  Federalist  party 
hated  and  dreaded  him. 

Jefferson  instructed  our  envoys  to  France, 
James  Monroe  and  Robert  R.  Livingston,  to 
try,  with  the  two  million  dollars,  to  buy  New 
Orleans  and  the  strip  along  the  Gulf  east  of  the 
Mississippi. 

This  was  all.  This  would  give  us  an  outlet.  It 
was  not  President  Jefferson  who  i)ought  Louisi- 
ana ;  it  was  not  Louisiana  that  Jefferson  sought  to 
obtain. 

Napoleon  wanted  money  for  the  war  he  was  about 
to  begin  with  the  I^ritish.  He  knew  thnt  the 
British  coiih^  take   Louisiana  trom  liim  ;    thai  they 


284  THE    world's   greatest    CONFLICT. 

were  ready  to  do  it.  He  would  not  entertain 
Jefferson's  proposal.  But  he  offered  to  sell  the 
whole  vast  territory. 

The  American  envoys  had  no  authority  or  instruc- 
tions to  buy  it.  They  lacked  time  to  send  to  Amer- 
ica and  obtain  them  ;  but  their  minds  grasped  the 
situation.  They  took  the  responsibility,  they  made 
the  purchase.  Napoleon  signed  the  treaty  of  sale 
April  13,  icS03;  only  eleven  days  before  he  sent 
home  the  British  embassador. 

The  price  was  $15,440,000,  of  which  $\  1,580,000 
were  paid  to  France  in  United  States  6  per  cent, 
bonds,  cashed  in  Holland.  The  other  fourth, 
$3,860,000,  was  to  be  paid  by  the  United  States  to 
Americans  whose  ships  and  cargoes  France  had 
confiscated,  and  France  was  discharged  from  these 
claims. 

To  Jefferson  has  popularly  been  given  the  credit 
of  this  great  act  of  statesmanship.  Is  it  not  pri- 
marily due  to  Monroe  and  Livingston  ?  Jefferson 
approved  it,  but  so  did  Congress  and  millions  of 
Americans.  Had  Jefferson's  action  been  awaited, 
the  great  opportunity  must  have  passed. 

That  Napoleon  made  war  on  England  proved 
immense  advantage  to  America  ;  but  it  was  a  great 
misfortune  to  France. 

Napoleon  knew  that  his  possession  of  the  natural 
outlets  of  our  Western  trade  would  make  a 
natural  enemy  of  America.  But  had  he  retained 
Louisiana  and  devoted  the  same  energy,  expense 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     285 

and  skill  to  its  colonization  and  development  that 
he  gave  to  unnecessary  war,  it  is  beyond  conjec- 
ture to  what  height  of  real  glory  and  prosperity  he 
might  have  raised  France.  In  the  feeble  condition 
of  Spain,  he  could  easily  have  obtained  Mexico, 
California,  Central  America  and  Oregon.  Had 
Napoleon  pursued  a  just,  honest,  really  statesman- 
like course,  then  all  that  great  empire,  the  whole 
of  North  America  west  of  the  Mississippi,  might 
now  be  French  dominion  and  constantly  adding  un- 
told wealth  to  France.  Napoleon  was  the  first  soldier 
of  modern  times,  but  was  he  a  far-seeing  statesman  ? 
Jefferson,  his  admirer,  says  he  was  not.  * 

It  was  to  enter  European  war  into  which  he  was 
not  forced  that  he  threw  away  this  grand  chance 
to  vastly  aggrandize  France,  without  war's  waste 
of  human  life.  The  forty  thousand  Frenchmen 
in  Leclerc's  army,  wasted  in  St.  Domingo,  might 
have  been  saved  and  made  a  grand  installment  of 
Louisiana  colonists. 

The  area  of  this  Louisiana  purchase  was  almost 
exactly  double  the  whole  area  of  France,  Germany, 
Switzerland,  Netherlands  and  Luxemburg  com- 
bined, with  a  richer  soil  and  capable,  with  proper 
cultivation,  of  supporting  a  larger  population  than 
double  the  present  nearly  100,000,000  people  of 
those  important  nations.  Its  extent  exceeded  that 
of  the  i^resent  Great  Britain,  France,  Germany, 
Spain,  Italy,   Portugal,  Switzerland,   Holland  and 

•  Jeffcr.non'ii  Works,  Vol.  VI. 


286  THE    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

Luxemburg  together,  which  now  contain  popula- 
tions exceeding  180,000,000. 

Its  576,000,000  acres  was  enough  to  have  given 
a  farm  to  every  man  in  all  Napoleon's  European 
dominions.  This  vast,  virgin  empire  Napoleon 
sold  for  about  2iVo  cents  an  acre.  It  included  all 
Louisiana,  Arkansas,  Missouri,  Iowa,  Minnesota, 
Kansas,  Nebraska,  Dakota,  Montana,  Idaho,  In- 
dian Territory,  and  most  of  Colorado  and  Wyo- 
ming:.    New  Orleans  had  about  8000  inhabitants. 

Its  930,928  square  miles  was  110,248  square 
miles ;  more  than  an  eighth  larger  than  the  whole 
then  United  States,  which  contained  820,680 
square  miles. 

Before  he  became  President,  Jefferson  and  his 
party  strenuously  insisted  on  strict  construction  of 
the  very  letter  of  our  Constitution.  But  that  in- 
strument did  not  authorize  any  purchase  of  terri- 
tory. Now  Jefferson  and  his  "  Republican  "  party 
took  more  than  former  Federalist  latitude  with 
the  Constitution,  while  the  Federalist,  also  re- 
versing their  position,  cried  out  against  the  measure 
as  violation  of  that  compact.  They  denounced  the 
purchase  as  likely  to  dissolve  and  divide  the 
Union  ;  even  Jefferson  had  fears  of  that  result. 

The  purchase  was  a  wise  act  of  statesmanship. 
It  has  really  secured  us  from  the  great  danger  of 
having  a  rival  nation  occupying  all  the  country 
beyond  the  Mississippi. 

Jefferson  probably  intended  to  have  the  Consti- 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     2Sy 

tution  amended  to  cover  this  case,  but  the  short 
space  of  six  months  allowed  for  exchange  of  rati- 
fications precluded  it. 

Federalists  charged  Jefferson  with  folly  in  not 
seizing  that  territory  by  force  and  thus  saving  the 
purchase  money,  a  proposal  for  which  they  held 
that  authority  existed  in  the  Constitution. 

Napoleon  sold  it  for  money  to  fight  England,  the 
very  power  that  Spain  ought  to  have  regarded  as 
its  own  natural  ally  against  Napoleon. 

England  so  plainly  saw  Napoleon's  great  mis- 
take that  it  permitted  English  bankers,  the  Bar- 
ings, to  offer  to  take  the  American  bonds  and 
make  the  cash  payments  to  France. 

Twenty-two  Republican  and  one  Federalist 
senators  voted  the  ratification  and  five  Federalist 
senators  against  it. 


288       THE  world's  greatest  conflict. 


LXXXIV. 

SINCE     1 80 1    war   had    existed    between    the 
United  States  and  Tripoli,  on  account  of  the 
piratical  depredations  of  Tripolitans  on  American 
commerce.       In      1803     Commodore 
War  between      Prcblc   was   scnt    to    Tripoli  with    a 
the  United       small  squadron.     Captain  Bainbridge 
states  and        with  the  frigate  Philadelphia  grounded 
Tripoli.  in  that  harbor,  and  was  compelled  to 

1803-1805.        surrender.     The  officers  were  held  as 

prisoners,  the  crew  as  slaves. 
In  1 804  young  Lieutenant  Decatur,  with  seventy- 
six  men,   by  a   gallant   dash  retook   and   burned 
the  captured  frigate. 

Jussuf  had  murdered  his  father,  the  Bashaw  of 
Tripoli,  and  usurped  his  place.  His  older  brother 
Hamet  escaped  to  Egypt.  There  General  Eaton, 
an  American  agent,  espoused  his  cause,  in  the 
hope  to  force  the  release  of  the  American  cap- 
tives. After  fifty  days  of  march  across  desert, 
Eaton  and  Hamet  arrived  at  Dcrne,  where  they 
found  some  American  warships  ready  to  assist 
them.     They  took  Derne  by  assault. 

Twelve  days  later  the  Tripolitans  attacked  them, 
but  were  repulsed.  June  10  another  battle  was 
fought,  and  the  Tripolitans  beaten.  Many  Tripoli- 
tans fled  to  the  desert  the  next  day  at  sight  of  the 


THE  world's  greatest  CONFLICT.     289 

arrival  of  the  American  frigate  Constitution.  It 
however  brought  news  of  peace.  The  American 
Government  had  bought  the  release  of  the  captives 
for  si.xty  thousand  dollars,  and  the  relinquishment 
of  its  support  of  Hamet's  claims  to  the  throne. 

Jefferson  disliked  a  navy  ;  he  disapproved  ex- 
pensive fortifications  ;  he  proposed  heavy  cannon 
on  carriages,  movable  to  any  point,  some  at  each 
port,  to  be  used  by  trained  militia. 

He  objected  to  war  ships.  Instead,  he  proposed 
gun-boats;  some  to  be  kept  under  sheds,  some 
afloat,  to  be  manned  in  emergency  by  seamen  and 
local  militia ;  a  few  to  be  kept  fully  manned.  For 
the  fifteen  harbors  which  he  believed  needed  pro- 
tection, two  hundred  and  fifty  such  gun-boats,  to 
cost  a  million  dollars.  Ten  years  might  be  taken 
to  complete  them — twenty-five  each  year. 

The  three  already  completed  lacked  eflficiency 
and  excited  public  amusement,  but  Congress  ap- 
propriated sixty  thousand  dollars  for  the  gun-boats. 

Jefferson  wrote  in  1804  that  the  United  States 
had  dropped  the  system  of  making  commercial 
treaties  when  avoidable  ;  he  had  not  renewed  that 
with  England,  and  all  overtures  were  declined 
"  because  it  is  against  our  system  to  embarrass 
ourselves  with  treaties,  or  entangle  ourselves  at 
all  with  the  affairs  of  Europe." 

The  Constitutional  amendment  that  the  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President  be  separately  voted  for  in 
the  Electoral  College,  was  adopted  in  1804. 


290.  THE    WORLD  S    GKKATKST    COM-LICT. 

The  election  gave  one  hundred  and  sixty-two 
votes  for  Jefferson,  and  fourteen  for  C.  C.  Pinck- 
ney,  for  President  ;  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  for 
George  Clinton  of  New  York,  and  fourteen  for 
Rufus  King,  for  Vice-President. 


LXXXV. 

SPAIN  made  trouble  about  the  boundaries  of 
Louisiana.  The  United  States  claimed  pay 
for  vessels  taken  by  Spanish  cruisers,  and  by 
French  cruisers  sailing  from  Spain  ; 
Spain.  1804.  Spain  admitted  her  liability,  but  de- 
nied any  for  the  French. 

The  new  government,  given  by  the  United 
States  to  Orleans,  was  eminently  arbitrary.  The 
President  was  to  appoint  the  governor  and,  annu- 
ally, the  thirteen  members  of  a  legislative  council 
and  three  judges  of  Federal  Courts,  the  council  to 
control  other  courts,  with  jury  trial.  Under  Spain 
the  colonists  had  no  power,  and  little  under  France. 

In  1805  the  people  petitioned  for  American 
form  of  government,  and  were  given  a  territorial 
elective  legislature.  The  District  of  Louisiana 
was  made  a  territory,  the  governor  and  judges  to 
be  the  legislators.  A  clause  continued  the  exist- 
ing laws  and  regulations,  until  repealed,  and  tacitly 
confirmed  slavery,  already  there. 

Michigan   was  made  a  territory,  with  William 


THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  29I 

Hull  for  governor.  This  was  the  American  gen- 
eral afterwards  so  notorious  for  his  surrender  of 
an   army. 

The  European  war  having  thrown  much  of  its 
vast  and  rich  carrying  trade  into  American  ships, 
the  southern  coast  was  annoyed  by  French  and 
Spanish  half-pirates  ;  American  ships  in  St.  Do- 
mingo trade  were  armed  ;  still  captures  were  made. 
The  only  other  marine  neutrals  were  Sweden, 
Denmark  and  the  Hanse  towns.  Goods  and 
produce  were  first  sent  to  the  neutral  country, 
then  rcshipped  at  lucrative  rates.  European  goods 
thus  carried  by  neutrals  were  protected  by 
neutrality. 

English  admiralty  courts  began  to  condemn 
American  vessels.  Public  meetings  in  American 
ports  called  to  Congress  for  redress.  Jefferson  in 
his  annual  message  again  urged  the  gun-boat 
system. 

Miranda,  an  adventurer,  sailed  from  New  York 
with  about  two  hundred  volunteers  to  raise  insur- 
rection against  Spain  in  .South  America.  When 
too  late  Jefferson  caused  the  prosecution  of  two 
of  his  assistants.  Miranda  obtained  some  Briti.sh 
assistance,  landed  near  Caraccas,  took  two  or 
three  towns;  failed  to  receive  native  support;  Ihc 
Spanish  took  i)risoners  about  si.xty  Americans ; 
the  expedition  broke  up  at  Trinidad. 

Spanish  and  French  defeat  at  Trafalgar  pre- 
vented sending  Spanish  trc^opsto  Louisiana  against 


292  THE    WORLD  S    CiKKATKST    CONFLICT. 

US  ;  Jefferson  had  quietly  procured  an  appropria- 
tion of  two  million  dollars  for  "  extraordinary  ex- 
penses of  foreign  intercourse,"  and  was  trying  to 
buy  Florida  and  the  strip  extending  from  it  to 
Orleans,  which  separated  the  States  entirely  from 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  in  the  rivers  of  which 
Spain  .was  exacting  toll  from  American  commerce  ; 
Spain  refused  to  sell ;  she  knew  that  Bonaparte, 
not  Spain,  would  receive  the  purchase  money. 
Americans  claimed  to  the  Rio  Grande  ;  Spain  only 
admitted  the  American  claim  to  a  narrow  strip 
west  of  the  Mississippi ;  Spanish  troops  crossed 
the  Sabine  from  Texas  and  occupied  a  post  on 
Red  River. 

Tariff  duties  most  affected  the  Atlantic  States  ; 
the  whisky  tax  the  West.  The  East  was  mostly 
Federalist,  the  West  mostly  Republican  ;  the  Fed- 
eralists had  the  less  aversion  to  taxes  ;  the  Repub- 
licans were  restive  under  internal  impost.  The 
whisky  tax  became  a  party  measure  ;  the  Federal- 
ists insisted  that  it  be  taxed,  for  both  moral  and 
financial  reasons  ;  the  Republicans  that  it  be  free. 
The  tax  was  abolished  by  party  vote. 

With  the  admission  of  Ohio  as  a  State  in  1802,* 
Congress  began  the  system,  made  general  in  1804, 
of  giving  each  new  State  twelve  hundred  and 
eighty  acres  of  land  to  each  township  of  23,040 
acres,  for  public  schools. 

Georgia,  for   $1,250,000,   ceded  to  the   United 

•  Organized  March,  1803. 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     293 

States  all  its  claim  to  lands  west  of  its  present 
limit.     This  land  was  nearly  all  owned  by  Indians. 

In  July  Vice-President  Aaron  Burr,  an  unscru- 
pulous politician,  killed  the  Federalist  leader,  Alex- 
ander Hamilton.  Both  men  had  great  faults.  No 
party  was  interested  to  defend  Burr's  character. 
The  Federalists  were  eager  to  defend  that  of  their 
chief.  One  appears  in  popular  view  as  a  villain,  the 
other  as  a  patriot. 

1804-7  Lewis  and  Clarke  boldly  ascended  the 
Missouri  twenty-six  hundred  miles.  They  then 
struck  across  unknown  regions  westward  until 
they  reached  a  great  river  which  they  traced  to 
the  Pacific  and  found  it  to  be  the  Columbia,  dis- 
covered by  Captain  Robert  Gray  of  Salem,  in  1792. 
This  great  exploration  and  Gray's  discovery  gave 
Oregon  and  Washington  to  the  United  States, 
after  we  obtained  Spain's  claim  to  it. 

The  produce  of  French  and  Dutch  colonies  was 
largely  shipped  in  American  vessels  to  America, 
and  there  reshippcd  to  Europe  for  greater  security 
under  the  neutral  flag.  This  trade  was  very  profita- 
ble to  Americans,  while  it  gave  to  France  her  trade 
almost  as  in  peace.  The  British  seized  some  of 
these  vessels  on  the  claim  that  they  were  French 
property.  General  Wilkinson  was  sent,  with  several 
hundred  American  regulars,  to  oppose  the  Spanish. 

War  with  Spain  was  imminent,  but  Trafalgar  re- 
stricted her  power  of  American  aggression. 

Congress  passed  an  act  to  punish  violations  of 


294  THE    world's    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 


our  neutrality,  and  to  please  France  a  prohibition  of 
American  trade  with  revolted  French  St.  Domingo. 

■       LXXXVI. 

IMPEACHMENT  of  Judge  Chase,  although  it 
failed,   served    to    check    the   assumption   of 
overbearing  demeanor  on   the   bench,  which   had 
been   handed   down   as  dignity  from 
Misceiia-        colouial  timcs.     Humphreys  and  Liv- 
neous.  ingstone    benefited    America  by  im- 

portation   from    Spain    of   fine    wool 
merinoes,  and  by  making  fine  cloths. 

In  literature  Joel  Barlow  put  forth  a  splendid 
edition  of  his  "Vision  of  Columbus." 

Lxxxvn. 

FOR  five  hundred  dollars  in  cash  ;    increase  of 
annuity  to  one  thousand  dollars  ;  three  hun- 
dred to  build  a  church,  and  one  hundred  for  a  priest, 
Governor  Harrison  bought   from  the 
American         rcmuauts  of  the  Kaskaskias,  all  South- 
indians.         em  Illinois  up  to  a  line  across  it  through 

the  present  Alton  and  Vandalia. 
In  1804  Delawarcs  and  Piankeshaws,  for  a  small 
annuity,  ceded  the  present  Indiana  south  of  a  line 
from  Vincennes  to  Louisville,  Kentucky. 

The  Sacs    and   Foxes,   for  an    annuity    of   one 
thousand  dollars  worth  of  goods,  ceded  about  fifty 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT,     295 

million  acres — more  than  once  and  a  half  the  area 
of  England  —  on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi, 
including  much  of  Missouri,  Illinois,  Iowa  and 
Wisconsin.  Land  was  of  very  small  actual  value 
until  labor  and  skill  of  whites  subdued,  cultivated 
and  made  it  productive. 

LXXXVIII. 

BUT  three  banks  existed  in  the  State  of  New 
York,    all    owned     by     Federalists.      The 
charter  of  the  fourth  bank  was  a  party  measure 
for  Republican  owners,  the  first  party 
bank  in    America  ;  a  bad   precedent  Banks, 

soon   badly    abused.     Charters    were 
denied  for  two  more  banks,  because  the  applicants 
were  Federalists. 

LXXXIX. 

BONAPARTE  showed  little  respect  for  the 
new  "king  of   Etruria."     He  fortified  his 
coasts  with  heavy  batteries  without  notifying  the 
king   or    even    answering    his    com- 
plaints.*    Etruria  was  governed  prac-       Spain,  con- 
tically  as  a  French  department.!  tinued. 

This    alone    would    have   afforded 
Spain  grounds  to  annul  its  treaty  contract  to  fur- 
nish troops  and  war  ships  to  Bonaparte. 

*  Schloster. 

t  Laiificy,  Vo).  II.  p.  309. 


296  THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT. 

The  King  of  Etniria  died  October  9,  1803,  and 
his  ignorant,  bigoted  widow,  Maria  Louisa,  a  Span- 
ish woman,  misgoverned  as  far  as  Bonaparte  would 
permit,  as  regent  for  their  son,  Charles  Louis, 
aged  four  years. 

Although  the  Spanish  treaty  required  that 
peace  "was  only  to  be  made  by  common  accord," 
and  "  was  not  to  be  to  the  detriment  of  the  aux- 
iliary power  "  (Art.  XIV.),  yet  Bonaparte  alone, 
without  consulting  Spain,  made  the  treaty  of 
Amiens,  of  March  27,  1802,  in  which  he  sacrificed 
Spain's  highly  valuable  Trinidad,  to  the  great 
detriment  of  Spain.  Again  Spain  had  a  right  to 
nullify  the  treaty  because  of  its  violation. 

But  even  then  Bonaparte,  who  had  so  greatly 
broken  the  treaty,  demanded  that  Spain  should 
fulfill  its  terms.  He  was  again  at  war  with  Great 
Britain  ;  he  called  for  the  stipulated  aid.  Even 
the  corrupt  Godoy  objected.  The  proposal  was 
too  monstrous. 

Bonaparte  assembled  a  French  army  at  Bayonne, 
near  Spain.  The  Spanish  Government  began  to 
prepare  for  war  with  France.  It  ordered  a  levy 
of  one  hundred  thousand  men.  War  seemed 
imminent.  The  Spanish  army  advanced  toward 
France.  Bonaparte  threatened  to  invade  Spsin. 
He  would  remove  Godoy.  He  demanded  that  Spain 
make  war  on  the  British  or  pay  subsidy  to  France. 
The  alternative  offered  was  war  with  France.* 

•  Bonaparte  to  Talleyrand,  August  14,  1803. 


THE    world's    greatest    CONFLICT.  297 

Bonaparte  threatened  Godoy.  He  would  de- 
nounce to  Charles  the  Fourth  Godoy's  criminal 
relations  with  Charles's  queen.*  With  tears  of 
shame  and  anger,  Godoy  read  Bonaparte's  threat- 
ening; letter.  But,  bad  as  he  was,  he  refused. 
Bonaparte  wrote  to  Charles  an  expose  of  Godoy. 
He  would  humiliate  both.  But  Charles,  informed 
that  it  was  offensive,  declined  to  open  the  letter. 
Charles  yielded.  He  submitted  to  the  insult  and 
injury  that  Spain  was  to  pay  to  France  six  million 
francs  a  month,  amounting  to  nearly  fourteen 
million  dollars  a  year,  and  to  compel  Portugal,  the 
natural  friend  of  England,  to  give  to  Bonaparte  one 
million  francs  a  month.  This  was  done  by  the 
treaty  of  December  19,  1803,  by  which  Portugal 
was  robbed  of  sixteen  million  francs  for  Bonaparte 
to  use  against  Portugal's  interests  to  severely  dam- 
age her  trade  and  her  prosperity. 

Thus  by  selling  Louisiana,  and  by  using  the 
highwayman's  principles,  force  and  fear,  against 
Holland,  Hanover,  Naples,  Italy,  Spain  and  Por- 
tugal, Bonaparte  obtained  war  funds  without  lay- 
ing new  taxes  on  the  French. 

•  Bonaparte  to  Godoy. 


298  THE    world's    greatest   CONFLICT. 


xc. 


FRANCE  had  now  little  popular  sympathy  in 
any  country.  It  had  lost  the  good-will  of 
Democrats  and  Republicans  except  a  party,  strong 
in  the  American  Slave  States,  and 
France,  1803.  their  near  neighbors.  Throughout 
the  world  it  was  dreaded  as  a  threat- 
ening and  conquering  despotism.  Boston  and 
New  York,  as  well  as  Berlin,  Vienna,  Cairo  and 
Lisbon,  were  adverse  in  feeling  toward  it. 

Within  a  short  time  of  Bonaparte's  assumption 
of  power,  popular  institutions  had  vanished.  But 
the  friends  of  liberty  did  not  disappear  ;  they  were 
numerous  even  in  the  French  army. 

Circumstances  drew  into  Bonaparte's  train  many 
sincere  friends  of  liberty.  France  had  many 
able,  patriotic,  freedom-loving  persons  ;  they  pre- 
ferred the  military  hero  Bonaparte,  to  the  possible 
Bourbons. 

Many  army  officers  were  opposed  to  the  Con- 
cordat of  1802.  Many  civilians  were  opposed  to 
the  aggressive  ambition  of  the  military,  and  de- 
sired continued  peace.  One  party  wished  the 
return  of  the  elective  republic  ;  the  Vendeans 
desired  the  old  oppressors  ;  yet  all  seemed  to  sup- 
port Bonaparte  except  conspirators  and  the  four- 
teen suspended  departments. 


THE  WORLD*S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     299 


Many  French  were  better  than  their  ruler  ;  more 
liberal  than  their  government,  as  many  British 
were  wiser  than  Britain's  rulers,  more  just  than 
Britain's  laws. 

Some  of  Bonaparte's  laws  were  useful,  "but  his 
insatiable  greed  of  power  perverted  them."* 

Then  "he  affected  great  esteem  for  the  priests, 
and  care  for  their  interests.  Bonaparte  knew  how 
steadily  religion  supports  royalty,  and  he  hoped 
that  through  the  priests  he  might  get  the  people 
taught  that  catechism  which  we  have  since 
seen  —  in  which  all  who  did  not  love  and 
obey  the  emperor  were  threatened  with  eternal 
condemnation."  f 

Bonaparte  raised  a  great  conscription.  He  col- 
lected an  immense  fleet  of  small  vessels  at  Bou- 
logne, to  carry  a  great  army  across  the  Channel 
to  invade  England.  Other  fleets  and  war  forces 
he  collected  in  Holland  and  other  ports  of  France. 
He  commenced  immense  docks  at  Antwerp,  which 
he  hoped  to  make  the  greatest  naval  station  of  the 
continent. 

Fulton  repeatedly  tried  to  get  Bonaparte  to 
experiment  with  steam.  "The  First  Consul 
treated  Fulton  as  a  charlctan,  and  would  not  listen 
to  him."t 

His  preparations  were  very  complete.  He  was 
ready  had  chance  favored. 

•  R^munat,  Vol.  I.  p.  31.  t  Ibid,  Vol.  II.  p.  311. 

t  Marmont,  Tonic  II.  p.  iii. 


300  THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

His  threatened  invasion  united  England  against 
him.  There  the  war  for  a  time  was  popular.  All 
England  was  excited,  alarmed,  preparing.  It  en- 
rolled 379,000  volunteers  (militia),  in  addition  to 
the  80,000  called  out  in  March,  and  voted  increase 
of  its  regular  army  to  180,000.  It  had  189  line 
ships,  and  781  smaller  war  vessels.  During  the 
next  seven  years  the  men  in  the  navy  varied  from 
100,000  to  120,000. 

Bonaparte  planned  to  reach  England  by  flat 
boats  of  light  draft,  built  on  the  Gironde,  the 
Loire,  the  Oise,  the  Seine,  the  Somme,  the  Scheldt, 
the  Meuse,  the  Rhine,  which  were  to  descend  these 
rivers,  glide  along  the  coasts,  concentrate,  and  take 
on  board  the  great  army  at  Boulogne,  cross  the 
Channel,  and  terminate,  in  England,  the  many  gen- 
erations of  unchristian  rivalry  of  these  two  Chris- 
tian nations. 

Bonaparte  prohibited  imports  from  England.* 

June,  1803,  Bonaparte  proposed  that  Russian 
troops  should  garrison  Malta  as  long  as  should  be 
deemed  necessary  ;  that  Lampedusa  be  ceded  to 
Great  Britain  ;  that  Switzerland  and  Holland  be 
evacuated  by  French  troops  ;  and  that  the  acquisi- 
tions of  France  in  Italy  be  recognized  by  England. 
Here,  certainly,  was  a  chance  for  George's  ministry 
to  make  a  real  effort  for  peace.  But  instead  of 
trying  to  stop  the  ravages  of  war,  they  offered  to 
refer  to  the  arbitration  of  Alexander  ;  the  evacua- 

*  Bourrienne,  Vol.  II.  p.  84. 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     3OI 

tion  of  Hanover  and  North  Germany  to  be  part  of 
the  arrangement. 

Of  course  Bonaparte  refused.  Ale.xander  was 
a  party  to  the  quarrel,  he  was  committed  against 
France. 

England  had  offered  to  recognize  Etruria  if  Pied- 
mont were  made  independent.  It  would  not 
recognize  the  Cisalpine  and  Ligurian  republics.* 

While  complaining"  of  French  conquest  in 
Europe,  England  had  conquered  vast  territories  in 
Mysore. 

In  Ireland,  a  large  number  of  persons,  led  by 
Robert  Emmett,  on  July  23,  1803,  attempted  a 
rebellion.  Emmet  was  soon  arrested,  tried  for 
treason,  and  executed. 

In  1803,  a  conspiracy  to  kill  George  the  Third, 
in  London,  was  punished  by  the  execution  of  six 
humble  persons. 

In  1803,  Great  Britain's  immense  preparations 
and  vast  expense  brought  it  but  little  results,  ex- 
cept that  its  naval  superiority  enabled  the  British 
to  capture  the  French  colonies  of  St.  Lucia,  To- 
bago, Demerara,  Berbice  and  Esquibo.  This  was 
little  to  the  regret  of  the  planters  of  these  sugar 
countries,  who  looked  to  England  to  protect  them 
against  their  own  slaves,  whom  events  in  St. 
Domingo  had  caused  them  to  distrust  ami  dread. 
It  also  gave  them  a  share  in  that  lucrative  com- 
merce, which,  under  the  British   flag,  they  could 

*  Bonaparte,  L^nfrcy,  Vol.  II. 


302     Till':  WORLD  S  GREATEST  COXFLICT. 

conduct  with  greater  security.  French  trade  was 
not  safe  on  the  ocean. 

The  British  navy  blockaded  French  ports,  fre- 
quently harassed  French  ships,  and  bombarded 
coast  towns  without  important  result. 

Thus  the  first  advantages  of  the  war  were 
largely  in  favor  of  the  French. 

The  Ionian  Isles  were  quieted  with  a  new  con- 
stitution. 

The  Czar  appointed  the  Duke  of  Richelieu  gov- 
ernor of  Odessa  ;  his  administration  made  Odessa 
a  great  wheat  exporting  port  before  1815. 

In  Arabia  the  Wahabis  defeated  the  Turks  in 
a  Mohammedan  war,  in  several  battles,  took 
Mecca,  the  holy  city  ;  refrained  from  excesses 
there,  compelled  praying  more  punctually  ;  dress- 
ing more  plainly,  and  forbade  smoking  in  public. 
One  of  their  maxims  is,  "  no  tobacco."  They 
are  still  the  dominant  people  of  Arabia. 

In  India  the  Mahratta  war  was  the  beginning 
of  Wellington's  military  career.  The  five  Mah- 
ratta chiefs  had  a  military  force  of  three  hundred 
thousand  men.  The  Peishwa  at  Poonah  was  their 
nominal  head.  He  looked  to  the  British  for  pro- 
tection. Holkar  and  Scindia,  two  of  the  princes, 
were  at  war.  Holkar  defeated  his  rival,  and  drove 
the  Peishwa  himself  from  his  capital.  The  Pei- 
shwa called  for  British  aid.  With  them  he  made 
the  treaty  of  Bassoin,  December  31,  1802.  Wel- 
lesley  (Wellington)  marched  six  hundred  miles  in 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     303 

the  bad  season,  drove  out  the  captors  and  restored 
the  Peishwa  to  Poonah.  The  two,  lately  rival, 
princes  united.  The  war  assumed  large  propor- 
tions. The  British  General  Lake  defeated  Scindia, 
took  Delhi,  and  won  victories  at  Muttra  and  Agra. 

Wellesley,  with  only  about  four  thousand  five 
hundred  British,  and  a  native  force,  attacked  the 
Mahrattas  and  won  a  bloody  and  remarkable  vic- 
tory at  Assay e,  September  23,  1803.  Ninety-eight 
cannon,  seven  standards,  all  the  baggage,  and 
most  of  the  ammunition  of  the  enemy,  fell  into 
British  hands.  The  Mahrattas  numbered  about 
fifty  thousand.  Several  other  battles  and  sieges 
resulted  in  the  submission  of  Scindia  in  December, 
1803.  It  was  a  brilliant  campaign  of  four  months. 
Scindia  ceded  territory,  became  subsidiary  to  the 
British,  and  agreed  to  exclude  all  other  Europeans. 
Malabar  was  united  to  the  Madras  Presidency. 

Robert  Fulton  made  a  small  steamboat  which 
he  exhibited  on  the  Seine  in  1803.  Symington 
built  the  steamboat,  Charlotte  Dundas,  to  tow  ves- 
sels on  the  Forth  and  Clyde  canal.  It  was  a  suc- 
cess, but  its  agitation  washed  the  banks  so  much 
that  its  use  was  abandoned. 

Sunday-schools  were  founded  by  Robert  Raikes 
in  1781.  At  first  the  teaching  sometimes  included 
reading,  writing  and  arithmetic,*  and  teachers 
were  hired.  By  1800  the  teaching  became  gra- 
tuitous.    In  1803  was  formed  the  Sunday  School 

••  CJwimber»'§  Cycl.>|>xdi.i,  Vol.  XIV.  p.  (l<. 


304  THE    WORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

Union,  which  has  exercised  great  usefulness  in 
Great  Britain  and  America,  and  wherever  English 
is  spoken.  In  1880  the  United  States  had  above 
eighty-two  thousand  Sunday-schools. 

In  1803,  the  Lyceum,  London,  was  lighted  with 
coal  gas,  by  Winsor.  That  year  appeared  Gall's 
idea  of  phrenology,  Malthus'  Essay  on  Population, 
Brougham's  Colonial  Policy,  Jane  Porter's  Thad- 
deus  of  Warsaw,  Miss  Edgeworth's  Popular  Tales, 
Oehlenschlager's  (Dane)  first  volume  of  poems. 

Watt  had  adapted  steam  to  fixed  engines.  A 
steam  carriage  was  wanted.  Richard  Trevethick 
invented  it.  He  took  a  patent  in  1802  and  ex- 
hibited it  to  admiring  crowds  in  London.  Soon 
after  he  adapted  it  to  draw  wagons  on  railways. 
In  1804  it  drew  ten  tons  five  miles  an  hour  on 
Merthyr-Tydvil  railway.  This  was  the  first  loco- 
motive. Still  engineers  disbelieved  that  an  engine 
could  run  at  speed  or  draw  a  load  without  cogged 
wheels  and  rails.  Many  patents  sought  to  over- 
come this  imaginary  difficulty.  The  invention  re- 
mained of  little  use  till  George  Stephenson  opened 
the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  railway,  September 
15,  1830. 

Of  George  the  Third,  Thavikeray,  the  Englishman, 
says  :  "  His  mother'sbigotry  and  hatred  he  inherited 
with  the  courageous  obstinacy  of  his  race.  Like 
other  dull  men,  the  king  was,  all  his  life,  suspicious 
of  superior  people.  He  did  not  like  Fox  ;  he  did 
not  like  Reynolds  ;  he  did  not  like  Nelson,  Chat- 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     305 

ham,  Burke  ;  he  was  testy  at  the  idea  of  all  inno- 
vations, and  suspicious  of  all  innovators.  He  loved 
mediocrities  ;  Benjamin  West  was  his  favorite 
painter  ;  Beattie  was  his  poet.  The  king  lamented, 
not  without  pathos,  in  his  after  life,  that  his  edu- 
cation had  been  neglected.  He  was 
a   dull    lad,  brought    up   by    narrow-  George 

minded  people.     The  cleverest  tutors       the  Third, 
in  the  world  could  have  done  little, 
probably,  to  expand   that  small  intellect,  though 
they  might  have  improved  his  tastes  and  taught 
his  perceptions  some  generosity." 

Of  the  seven  million  five  hundred  thousand 
people  in  England  at  the  time  of  his  accession, 
probably  five  million  were  born  with  more  natural 
ability  than  George  possessed.  Nature  had  sent 
into  the  world  the  man  who  for  almost  sixty  years 
—  from  October  25,  1760,  to  January  29, 1820  —  was 
to  be  king  of  one  of  the  bravest  and  best  nations 
of  the  earth,  with  less  of  natural  capacity  to  be  a 
wise  ruler,  than  that  of  the  average  of  his  subjects. 
Either  Nature  or  fortune  had  made  a  great  mis- 
take in  its  man.  This,  too,  in  a  generation  when 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  were  prolific  of  great 
men.  It  was  the  age  of  Chatham,  Fox,  Wilbcr- 
forcc,  Stevenson,  Davy,  VVcllcslcy,  Clive,  Rodney, 
Cook,  Anson,  Adam  Smith,  Johnson,  Goldsmith, 
Gibbon,  Robertson,  Fielding,  Nelson,  Watt,  Awk- 
wright,  Herschcll,  Hunter.  Howard,  Wesley, 
Raikes,    Grattan,     Burke,    Scott    and    Clarkson. 


306  THE    world's    r.REATEST    CONFLICT. 

Washington  and  Franklin  were  once  his  subjects. 
The  stupid  George  was  king  of  these  great  men. 
Millions  of  men  existed  as  capable  as  George 
to  be  king  ;  not  a  man  existed  capable  of  filling 
the  place  of  James  Watt. 

The  men  who  fought  England's  battles  in  that 
generation  were  liable  to  that  brutal  practice,  now 
happily  abandoned  by  all  civilized  nations,  flog- 
ging. General  Napier  stated  that,  early  in  this 
century,  he  had  seen  from  six  hundred  to  one 
thousand  lashes  given  by  sentence  of  merely  a 
regimental  court-martial.  In  those  days  a  man 
who  had  suffered  a  part  of  his  sentence  was 
brought  from  the  hospital  before  his  wounds  were 
entirely  healed,  to  receive  the  remainder.  Now 
fifty  lashes  is  the  extreme  penalty,  and  that  only 
after  one  previous  conviction  of  disgraceful 
offense.*  Many  of  the  men  who  fought  Eng- 
land's naval  battles  had  been  brought  into  the 
service  by  being  kidnaped  by  press  gangs. 

George  the  Third,  who  had  so  many  apprehen- 
sions for  good  government  in  France,  supplied 
money,  almost  openly,  to  corruptly  buy  seats  in 
Parliament,  and  to  bribe  members. 

The  British  people  were  not  blamable  for  faults 
of  their  government.  Seats  in  Parliament  were 
openly  offered  for  sale  for  more  than  forty  years 
after  the  French  Revolution  of  1789,  and  down 
to  the  Reform   Act  of   1832.     Men  who  bought 

•  Act  of  Parliament,  1866. 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     307 

seats  sold  their  votes  in  order  to  make  their  out- 
lay profitable.  Two  thirds  of  the  members  of  the 
Commons  were  appointed  by  the  peers  or  other 
persons.  Almost  every  great  nobleman  had  seats 
to  give  away  or  to  sell.  Seventy  members  were 
returned  to  places  that  had  scarcely  a  voter.  Old 
Sarum  had  two  members,  but  not  an  inhabitant  ; 
while  the  great  town  of  Birmingham,  with  sixty 
thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty-two  residents, 
had  none  !  The  revenue  officers,  who  cast  their 
votes  just  as  George's  government  directed  them, 
returned  seventy  out  of  the  total,  after  the  union 
with  Ireland,  in  1801,  of  six  hundred  and  fifty- 
eight  members.  About  one  hundred  and  sixty 
persons  sent  about  three  hundred  members,  and 
the  remainder,  three  hundred  and  fifty-eight, 
were  sent  by  a  limited  number  of  persons,  thus 
leaving  the  other  ten  million  eight  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  British,  and  five  million  four  hun- 
dred and  ninety-nine  thousand  Irish  unrepresented. 
Only  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  men 
were  electors  at  all.  Great  towns  like  Manchester 
and  Leeds,  leaders  though  they  were  and  still 
are  among  the  wealth  creators  and  prosperity 
winners  of  England,  had  no  place  in  the  mis- 
called "  Commons." 

Thus  the  British  and  Irish  people  had  very 
slight  or  no  share,  and  little  influence  in  their  own 
government,  or  means  of  making  their  wishes 
felt.     Yet  when  press  gangs  were  busy  and  their 


3o8       THE  world's  greatest  conflict. 

unfortunate  victims  numerous  ;  when  the  slave 
trade  was  lawful  ;  when  bread  could  not  be  eaten 
until  a  heavy  tax  was  first  paid  on  it  ;  when  the 
habeas  corpus  act  was  suspended  ;  when  not  one 
person  in  a  hundred  was  an  elector,  still,  with  all 
these  great  oppressions,  Britain  had  more  freedom 
than  any  other  country  in  Europe.  Even  then 
Robert  Hall  said :  "  We  are  the  only  people  in  the 
Eastern  Hemisphere  who  are  in  possession  of  equal 
laws,  and  a  free  constitution.  Freedom,  driven 
away  from  every  spot  on  the  continent,  has  sought 
an  asylum  in  a  country  which  she  always  chose 
for  a  favorite  abode."  Since  1800  few  nations 
have  made  so  great  progress  as  the  British. 

Historians  tell  us  that  France  was  very  badly 
oppressed  before  its  revolution  ;  but  they  too 
generally  omit  to  state  the  fact  that  most  of  the 
world  was  then  hardly  more  favored. 

Means  of  public  intelligence  in  Britain  were 
oppressed  in  1776,  by  doubling  the  tax  of  a  half- 
penny on  each  half-sheet  newspaper,  to  which 
another  half-penny  was  added  in  the  very  year  of 
the  French  Revolution — 1789  —  and  one  penny 
and  a  half  in  1797,  making  four  pence  in  all,  which 
continued  till  1836-37,  when  it  was  reduced  to  one 
penny,  and  only  finally  abolished  in  1855-56.  Pro- 
secutions were  rife  against  newspapers.  The 
number  of  stamps  issued  on  British  newspapers 
in  1800  was  sixteen  million,  which  shows  that  this 
kind  of  intelligence  bore,  that  year,  a  burden  of 


THE  WORLD  S  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     3O9 

£,266,666,  about  $1,293,330,  besides  the  paper  tax 
which  was  not  abolished  till  1861. 

Free  public  primary  schools  were  established  in 
Scotland  in  1696,  but  in  1801  such  non-religious 
schools  did  not  exist  elsewhere  except  in  the 
Northern  United  States  of  America.  Holland 
commenced  its  system  in  1806. 

The  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  one  of  the  chief 
safeguards  of  British  liberty,  and  one  of  the  best 
securities  ever  devised  against  tyrants.  It  ex- 
pressly provides  that  no  subject  can  be  either 
arrested,  imprisoned,  dispossessed  of  his  fortune 
or  deprived  of  his  life,  except  by  a  legal  sentence 
of  his  peers  conformably  to  the  ancient  law  of  the 
country,  and  he  can  demand  immediate  trial.  It 
is  the  basis  of  British  security.  Yet  George's 
government  suspended  it.  The  bare  fact  that 
they  suspended  it  indicates  the  strong 
opposition  that  existed  in  England  wmiam  Pitt. 
against  the  war.  William  Pitt  had 
once  been  liberal  and  patriotic  in  his  efforts  to 
reform  some  of  the  great  abuses  of  those  times. 
Hut  he  changed  in  1793.     Macaulay  says  :  * 

"  And  this  man,  whose  name,  if  he  had  been  so 
fortunate  as  to  die  in  1 792,  would  now  be  associated 
with  peace,  with  freedom,  with  philanthropy,  with 
temperate  reform,  with  mild  and  constitutional 
administration,  lived  to  associate  his  name  with 
arbitrary    government,   with    harsh    laws    harshly 

•  Life  o(  Pin,   |>.  51. 


310  THE    world's    greatest    CONt-LICT. 

executed,  with  alien  bills,  with  gagging  bills,  with 
suspensions  of  the  habeas  corpus  act,  with  cruel  pun- 
ishments inflicted  on  some  political  agitators,  with 
unjustifiable  prosecutions  instituted  against  others, 
and  with  the  most  costly  and  most  sanguinary 
wars  of  modern  times.  He  lived  to  be  held  up  to 
obloquy  as  the  stern  oppressor  of  England,  and 
the  indefatigable  disturber  of  Europe. 

**  It  was  pitiable  to  hear  him,  year  after  year, 
proving  to  an  admiring  audience,  that  the  wicked 
republic  (France)  was  exhausted  ;  that  she  could 
not  hold  out,  that  her  credit  was  gone,  that  her 
assignats  were  not  worth  more  than  the  paper  on 
which  they  were  made.  It  was  impossible  that  a 
man  who  so  completely  mistook  the  nature  of  the 
contest  could  carry  on  that  contest  successfully. 
Great  as  Pitt's  abilities  were,  his  military  adminis- 
tration was  that  of  a  driveler." 

Let  us  not  ignore  the  law  eternal.  The  funda- 
mental design  of  all  government  is  to  secure  the 
people  and  individuals  from  injustice  either  violent 
or  otherwise.  This  is  the  chief  object  for  which 
each  person  sacrifices  some  slight  portion  of  his 
natural  liberties  and  submits  to  be  governed  at 
all.  Only  for  this  were  kings  and  governments  in- 
stituted. When  a  government  inflicts  injustice  it 
not  only  fails  in  its  original  purpose,  but  becomes 
itself  a  fraud,  and  is  itself  the  more  guilty  because 
it  aims  a  lash  at  its  own  moral  source  and  only 
justification  for  existing  at  all. 


THE  WORLDS  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     3II 

It  is  wrong  alike  in  king  or  revolutionary  tri- 
bunal, in  parliament  or  in  mob,  to  disturb  com- 
mon comfort  or  that  individual  liberty  which  may 
exist  without  injury  to  the  common  good  ;  to 
make  needless  restrictions,  or  to  cause  unneces- 
sary war. 

By  these  fundamental  truths  let  George  and 
Pitt  and  Bonaparte  be  tried.  Did  not  they  reverse 
the  natural  purpose  of  government  ?  Did  not  they 
who  should  always  be  the  protectors  against  in- 
justice, become  the  inflictors  of  wrongs  ?  We 
shall  see. 

XCI. 

THE  British  navy,  January,  1804,  was  three 
hundred    and    fifty-six    vessels,    including 
seventy-five  of  the  line,  in  commission.     This  navy 
was  not  in   the  best  condition.     By 
strenuous  exertion  and  at  enormous      TheBriu.h 
cost  the  defects  were  made  up,  so  that      Navy  in  1804. 
by  December,  1804,  four  hundred  and 
seventy-three  vessels,  including  eighty-three  of  the 
line,  were  ready  for  sea,  and  eighty  vessels  were 
far  advanced  in   building.     The   whole   navy   was 
nine  hundred   and   seventy  vessels,  including  one 
hundred  and  eighty-nine  of  the  line. 

The  only  valuable  Ikitish  conquests  in  1804,  ex- 
cept in  India,  were  a  few  small  Dutch  colonies  in 
Guiana  and  the  West  Indies. 


312  THE    world's   GREATEST    CONFLICT. 


One  hundred  thousand  men  were  that  year  em- 
ployed in  the  British  navy.  Two  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  land  troops,  not  including  the 
twenty-two  thousand  in  India  that  took  Delhi 
and  Agra,  and  exclusive  of  three  hundred  and 
seventy-nine  thousand  nine  hundred  and  forty-five 
militia  ("  volunteers  ")  were  in  service. 

Thus  three  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  able- 
bodied  men  were  withheld  from  productive  labor, 
besides  the  militia,  for  a  trifle  of  conquest.  It 
caused  the  following  show  of  British  finance, 
1804. 

Great  Britain's  expenditure  in  1804,  on  army 
and  navy,  was  above  ;^3 5,000,000,  or  more  than 
$170,000,000,  besides  p(^i  1,000,000  or  $53,600,000 
for  retiring  exchequer  bills,  and  nearly  ^7,000,000 
or  $34,600,000  for  "  miscellaneous  "  expenses,  and 
^^14,290,772  or  nearly  $70,000,000  interest  on  the 
great  debt  that  George  and  Pitt  were  heaping  up 
to  burden  Great  Britain  for  generations. 

They  also  borrowed  ^6,436,000,  or  nearly 
$30,000,000  more  at  interest  to  put  into  the  sink- 
ing fund  !  *  And  Pitt  stupidly  imagined  that  the 
sinking  fund  was  paying  the  debt ! 

Summed  up,  Pitt's  famous  Sinking  Fund 
amounted  to  just  this  :  For  every  sixty  dollars  that 
you  can  possibly  borrow  and  spend  prodigally, 
give  your  creditor  an  interest  bearing  note  for 
one   hundred   dollars ;   then    make   a   small   note 

•Alison,  Vol.  II.  p.  284. 


THE  WORLDS  GREATEST  CONFLICT.     313 

against  yourself  at  compound  interest,  and  keep  it 
in  your  own  pocket.  Continue  this  process  indefi- 
nitely, and  finally  pay  your  whole  immense  debt 
with  those  worthless  notes  in  your  pocket !  Yet 
that  scheme  deceived  the  world  ! 

Great  Britain  for  the  whole  year  1804  expended 
an  average  of  almost  a  million  dollars  a  day  !  And 
Great  Britain  obtained  only  a  few  small  Dutch 
outposts,  while  Napoleon  was  unharmed.  The 
maritime  war  of  1804,  like  that  of  1803,  was  mainly 
of  words. 

In  1804  the  British  war  taxes  were  ;^i  5,440,000  ; 
loans,  ;i{^  1 0,000,000  of  English  and  ;^4, 500,000  and 
^1^1,150,000  annuity;  on  exchange  bills  ;i^i4,ooo,- 
000  ;  duty  on  pensions  ;^2,ooo,ooo ;  on  mult 
^750,000  ;  lottery  ^^250,000  ;  "  consolidated  fund  " 
^5,000,000,  and  a  permanent  revenue  of  X25,- 
365,000  ;  in  all,  ;^79,825,ooo,  or  more  than  3388,- 
000,000.  This  was  equivalent  to  a  much  larger 
sum  at  the  present  time. 

,  And  with  all  this  vast  expenditure,  added  to  the 
immense  expenses  of  1803,  $280,000,000,  she  had 
in  two  years  only  robbed  the  helpless  and  not  un- 
friendly Dutch  of  Surinam  in  1804,  and  of  St. 
Peter,  Miquclon,  Tobago,  Demarara,  Esquibo  and 
Berbice  easily  taken  in  1803,  with  triflingadditions 
in  1804,  all  of  which  the  Dutch  would,  probably, 
peacefully  have  sold  to  England  for  less  than  one 
cent  on  the  dollar  of  this  enormous  expense.  Yet 
they  had  cost  already  more  than  nineteen  months 


314  THE    WORLDS    GREATEST    CONFLICT. 

of  war.  This  statement  appears  incredible.  But 
I  am  not  writing  to  display  fictitious  glory.  I  aim 
only  to  relate  actual  facts. 

These  figures  suggest  that  to  make  war  is  un- 
wise, and  sometimes  unpatriotic. 

The  British  Commons  passed  Mr.  Wilberforce's 
Bill  to  abolish  the  slave  trade,  but  it  was  thrown 
out  in  the  Lords. 

The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  was  fully 
organized  March  7,  1804.  In  seventy-two  years 
following  it  issued  over  seventy-six  millions  of 
Bibles.  It  issued,  up  to  1876,  one  hundred  and 
ninety  languages.  The  first  American  Bible 
Society  was  formed  at  Philadelphia  in  1808.  The 
Prussian  Central  dates  from  18 14,  the  Russian 
from  1813;  but  the  Czar  Nicholas  suspended  the 
latter  in  1826.*  Bible  societies  were  forbidden  in 
Austria  in  18 17. 

In  1804,  Schiller's  greatest  drama,  William  Tell, 
was  published.  Immanuel  Kant,  a  great  meta- 
physician, born  April  22,  1724,  died  February  12, 
1 804.  Beranger  had  begun  to  write,  but  his  poems 
were  not  successful.  Reduced  almost  to  destitution, 
he  asked  and  received  from  Lucien  Bonaparte  em- 
ployment as  editor  of  Annales  du  Musee.f  Prus- 
sia's population  was  about  nine  million  five  hun- 
dred thousand,  its  revenue  about  thirty  million 
dollars,   its   army    two    hundred    thousand   men. J 

•Chambers's  Cyclopedia,  Vol.  II.  p.  52:-22. 

t  Ibid,  Vol.  II.  p.  459-  t  Alison,  p.  283. 


THE    \YORLD  S    GREATEST    CONFLICT.  3  I  $ 

Its  political  leaders  were  Harwitz,  Hardenburg 
and  Baron  von  Stein.  Its  policy  was,  Aggrandize, 
but  keep  out  of  dangers  of  war.  It  was  favorably 
inclined  to  France,  to  etiquette,  to  economy. 
Servia  rose  in  arms  and  e.xpelled  the  Janizaries, 
and  became  masters  of  their  country,  with  Kara 
George  at  their  head.  It  became  almost  a  nation 
of  soldiers.  In  India  British  troops  defeated  the 
Mahratta  princes  in  two  battles.  In  England  the 
"  Frugality  Bank  "  of  Tottenham  was  instituted 
by  Priscilla  Wakefield,  which  gave  rise  to  savings 
banks.  Immanuel  Kant  died,  aged  eighty.  The 
wreck  of  about  thirty-five  British  commercial  ves- 
sels near  Portugal,  caused  greater  loss  of  life  than 
any  naval  battle  of   1804. 


CONCLUSION. 

THIS  volume  closes  with  April,  1804,  at  a 
time  when  labor  was  dishonored,  literature 
inactive,  merit  and  morals  too  little  respected, 
and  when  rank  and  wealth  took  precedence  of 
manliness. 

It  was  a  very  angry,  furious  generation  ;  a  wick- 
ed period.  The  human  race  was  war-mad  ;  human 
slavery  existed  in  some  form  in  almost  every  na- 
tion ;  privateering,  which  is  but  legal  piracy,  was 
popular;  society  was  just  emerging  from  a  corrupt 
age.  The  grand  humanities  which  now  show  them- 
selves in  asylums,  hospitals  and  many  similar  forms 
were  almost  non-existent.  Outside  of  New  Eng- 
land and  Scotland  few  public  free  schools  existed  ; 
newspapers,  which  usually  give  enlightened  tone 
to  the  world,  were  restricted  in  Europe  and  filled 
with  poison  invectives  in  America  and  England. 
Neither  the  British,  French  nor  German  law  sys- 
tems had  yet  been  reformed  by  the  efforts  of  such 
great  men  as  Romilly,  Tronchet  and  Treilhard,  and 
of  Savigny.  It  was  small  Denmark  and  not  some 
great  empire  that,  under  now  forgotten  Bernsdorff, 
had  the  best  administration  in  Europe.  Germany 
was  many  nations  ;  Italy  was  divided,  and  not  free, 
but  was  controlled  by  Napoleon  ;  Norway  belonged 
to  Denmark. 

316 


CONXLUSION.  317 

France  was  a  military  monarchy  ;  it  was  declared 
an  empire  in  May,  1804.  Then  William  Pitt  came 
back  again  to  head  the  British  ministry.  The  out- 
look was  unpromising.  The  tremendous  struggle 
of  the  succeeding  years  may  well  be  left  for  an- 
other volume. 

A  real  republic  fully  protects  the  rights  and 
person  and  property  of  every  person,  but  many 
Frenchmen  mistook  a  republic  for  license  to  op- 
press their  opponents  at  home  and  abroad,  there- 
fore their  Revolution  failed.  The  same  false  idea 
for  a  time  longer  endangered  the  American  re- 
public. Then  Great  Britain  had  a  government 
almost  independent  of  the  masses  of  its  people. 
The  king  took  active  part  in  politics.  In  our  day 
she  has  become  almost  a  republic  ;  she  has  man- 
hood suffrage,  the  prime  minister  is  the  real  head 
of  active  power,  and  the  House  of  Commons, 
elected  by  the  people,  can  control  or  change  the 
ministry  at  will. 

The  great  impetus  given  by  John  Wesley  to  re- 
form in  all  the  churches,  to  purer  religious  life,  to 
better  morals,  was  actively  working,  and  since  then 
many  prejudices  of  society,  class,  race  and  creed 
have  yielded  to  better  Christianity.  In  politics, 
society,  trade,  in  the  general  sentiments  of  the 
world  is  now  more  honesty,  fairness  —  everywhere 
is  more  gentle,  humane  light  and  honor. 


INDEX.  319 


INDEX. 


Acquisitions  by  various  nations,  268. 
Addington  became  Premier,  March,  1801,  180. 
America  adopts  a  Constitution,  June,  17S8,  irj. 
Adams  becomes  President,  March  4,  "797.  '37. 
American  and  British  Alien  and  Sedition  laws,  143.  '44- 

Trouble  wi'.h  Algiers,  132. 

Banks,  1 19,  295. 

Census  of  1791  and  1800,  121,  152. 

Condition  after  the  Revolution,  no. 

Contest  for  the  Presidency,  iSoo,  150. 

Court  act,  151. 

Citizen  conWcted  of  treason,  150. 

Citizen  extradited  and  hanged,  149. 

Exports,  imports,  area  and  population,  128,  191. 

Friendship  for  France,  123. 

House  of  Representatives  claim  power  over  treaties,  13& 

Indians,  117,  133,  254. 

Indignation,  129. 

Nav)',  but  thirteen  frigates  in  1800,  149. 

Neutrality,  1793,  125. 

Parties  exchange  positions,  286. 

Public  lands,  153,  202. 

Trouble  with  England  after  17S3,  112,  121,  125,  128,  133.  '47.  '5"- 

Trouble  with  France,  138. 

Trade,  125,  128,  146,  192,  267,  293,  294. 

Vessels  seized  by  British,  129. 

War  with  France,  1798,  145. 

War  ship  insulted  by  British,  147. 

Whisky  Rebellion,  1794,  131. 

What  the  two  parties  wanted,  152. 

What  ruined  the  Federalist  party,  143.  M4i  >S«.  »S»- 
Annies,  British,  268,  joo. 

French,  268. 
Arabian  religious  war,  1803,  30a. 
Assignats,  French,  54. 
Austria,  Joseph  the  Second's  reforms,  31. 
Austria's  gross  demands  of  France,  63. 

Bank  of  U.  S.,  119 

Badness  of  Bonaparte  and  George  the  Tliird,  j6i. 


320 


INDEX. 


Battle  of  French  and  Russians  at  Zurich,  107. 

Batavian  Republic,  186. 

Belgium,  72,  74,  79,  97. 

Bible  societies,  314. 

Boy  and  girl  king  and  queen,  12. 

Bonaparte  asks  for  peace  with  England,  207. 

Changes  the  government  of  France,  234. 

Cheats  Turkey,  230. 
Bonaparte's  conscription,  1S03,  299. 

Campaign  in  Egypt  and  Syria  103,  104,  108. 

Coup  d'etat,  November  9,  1799,  i55- 

Government,  198,  231,  249. 

Return  from  Egypt,  154. 

Opportunity,  228. 

Proposal  to  England,  300. 

Oppression  of  Spain,  297. 

Prepares  to  invade  England,  1803,  299. 

Rejects  Fulton's  steam  projects,  299. 

Restores  slavery,  233. 

Scolds  a  British  ambassador,  257. 

States  his  grievances  by  England,  253. 

Makes  politics  of  schools,  222. 

Forms  a  gunboat  fleet,  190. 

Schools,  220. 
Bread  scarcity  and  riots  in  England,  171,  180,  185,  209. 

"  "        "      "  "        20,  49,  52,  54,  78, 86. 

Brittany  opposes  Louis  the  Sixteenth,  41. 
British  army,  268,  312. 

Navy,  2 19,  268,  300,  311,312. 

Commerce  and  costs  of  war,  230,  312, 

Expedition  to  Egypt,  185. 

Ministries,  179. 

Money,  189. 

Newspapers,  254,  256,  264. 

Press  gangs,  172. 

Trade,  267. 

Ultimatum,  23S. 

Union  with  Ireland,  in  1801,  176. 

Small  gains  by  war  in  1803-4,  3°'.  3".  3 '3- 
Parliament,  306. 
Brunswick  (German,  Duke  of),  proclaims  fierce  war,  66. 
Burr  kills  Hamilton  in  1804,  293. 

Calamity  of  Copenhagen,  183. 

Calonne  became  minister,  October,  1784  :  his  policy,  28,  35,  37. 

Campaign  of  1800  in  Italy  and  Germany,  210. 


INDEX.  ^21 


0- 


Catholic  insurrection,  60. 

Christianity  abolished,  November  10,  1793,  Si. 

Clergj-  (French)  exempt  from  tax,  make  a  loan,  41. 

Join  Third  Estate,  48;  made  free  of  the  Pope,  54. 

Elective:  oath:  oppose  Protestant  marriage,  22,  55. 

Non-juror,  62,  6g. 
Commune,  68,  79,  80,  82,  84,  85. 
Conspiracy  of  Babeuf,  100. 
Committees  of  public  and  general  safety,  78. 
Commerce  and  costs  of  war,  230. 
Concordat  of  1 801,  217. 
Condition  when  this  century  began,  164. 
Constitution  (French)  of  1791,60;  of  1793,80. 
1795.88;  of  1802,234. 
Conscription,  1798,  105. 
Corsica  democratic,  1798,  105. 
Corvee  and  the  feudal  claims,  23. 
Courts  of  law  (French),  55,  222 ;  the  famous  code,  223. 
Cruelty  of  Carrier,  82,  85. 

Danton  80,  83. 
Debt  of  the  U.  S.,  112,  117. 
Denmark,  183,  184,  193,  276. 
Departments  (French),  54. 
Directory  (French),  tyranny,  loow 
Dumouriez  escapes,  79. 

Embargo,  140,  146. 

Emmett,  301. 

England's  population,  increa.se  of,  170. 

English  travelers  arrested  by  Bonaparte,  272- 

Etruria,  295. 

Fashion.^  in  1801,  201. 

Flogging,  306. 

France  in  1803,  298. 

French,  bloodshed  in  Chamn  dc  Mars,  July  17,  1791,  59. 

Army  in  1803,  268. 

Electinn<i  against  the  Directory,  i79'>-<>7,  100. 

Expeditions,  1795  In  1H05,  104,  108,  145,  iSs. 

Emigration,  56,  61,  200. 

Executionn,  wholesale,  84. 

Feast  of  Rca.son,  1793,  8». 

Fontcnay,  7H. 

Fren/y  fur  blofid,  84. 

Invasion  by  nobles  and  foreign  troop*,  56,  60,  62,  69. 


322  INDEX. 


French,  Revenue  and  debts,  53.  198.  268. 
Jacobins,  63,  71,  78,  85. 
Jaffa  wholesale  murders,  108. 
Joli  d'Fleury  is  Finance  minister,  27. 

Geneva  oppressed  by  Louis  XVI,  30;  Freed  by  France,  76. 

Genet  affair,  126. 

Genoa,  99,  iSo,  197,  210. 

Girondists,  63,  66,  71,  72,  78,  80. 

George  the  Third,  iii. 

German  free  cities,  236,  274. 

Germany,  177;  rearranged,  236. 

Guillotine,  80,  83. 

Grenoble  begins  the  active  Revolution,  July  17,  «788;  42- 

Habeas  Corpus  writ,  309. 

Hanover  in  1803,  war  ui,  273. 

Holland,  87,  186,  272. 

How  Washington  became  the  Capital,  118,  150. 

India,  302. 

Ionia,  107,  302. 

Ireland,  173. 

Italy,  90,  96,  98,  loi,  106,  194,  251. 

Jay's  treaty,  1795,  133- 

Jefferson  abolishes  formalities,  201. 

Against  a  navy  ;  his  gunboats  and  cannon,  289. 
"        treaties  of  commerce,  289. 

Reelected,  290. 
Judge  Chase  impeached,  294. 

Kentucky  became  a  State,  June  i,  1792,  121. 
Nullification  Resolutions  of  1798,  144. 

Lafayette,  50,  51,  54,  55.  65,68. 

Legislative  Assembly,  October  i,  1791,  61. 

L'roi  est  mort :  —  a  bas  I'roi,  11. 

Lewis  and  Clarke  explore,  293. 

Liquors,  British,  189. 

Louisiana,  282,  290,  292. 

Lun^ville,  peace  of,  February  9,  1801,  171,  211. 

Louis  the  Sixteenth  annuls  votes  of  National  Assembly,  47- 

Arrests  duke  of  Orleans  and  others,  39,  40. 

Assembles  foreign  troops,  49. 

Beaten,  orders  nobles  and  clergy  to  join  Assembly,  48. 


INDEX.  S-l 


Louis  the  Sixteenth,  Brothers  run  away,  51. 

Character  of,  14;  charged  with  treason,  63. 

Coronation  at  Rheims,  22. 

Claims  right  to  make  all  laws  and  taxes,  26. 

Compels  parliament  to  register  taxes,  37. 

Compelled  to  back  down  ;  commits  a  fraud,  39. 

Creates  a  bogus  law  court,  40. 

Commits  the  crime  of  desertion,  57. 

Dismisses  Necker,  49;  recalled  him,  51. 

Dismisses  his  Jacobin  ministers,  64. 

Opposes  aid  to  America,  14. 

Oppresses  parliament ;  extravagance,  20. 

Is  mobbed  ;  his  bread  fraud,  21. 

Commits  outrages  and  frauds,  26,  27,  28,  29,  32,  34,  37,  39,  4>,  4= 

Puts  on  the  red  cap,  July  20,  1792,  64. 

Takes  the  oath  and  breaks  it,  56. 

Dethroned,  tried,  executed,  66,  73,  74. 
Lomenie  of  Brienne,  the  atheist  archbishop,  37,  43- 

Malta,  104,  257f  263. 

Marat,  59,  70,  80. 

Maurepas  and  his  good  wift",  16. 

Marie  Antoinette's  fraud,  29;  her  guilt  pronounced,  33. 

Her  brother  begs  her  to  reform  herself,  29;  called, 
Madame  Deficit,  39 ;  Madame  Veto,  62. 
Massacre  of  prisoners,  September,  1792,  69. 
Merinoes  imjwrted,  294. 
Michigan  organized  as  a  territory,  1804,  290. 
Mirabeau,  55,  56. 

Miranda's  South  American  expedition,  291. 
Monks  refuse  to  free  serfs,  25. 

Naples,  91,  105,  107. 

National  Assembly  47,  61. 

National  Convention  of  September  21,  1792,  71. 

National  guards  formed,  50. 

Naval  event*  of  1796,  100. 

Necker,  24,  26,  43,  49. 

Necklace  affair,  32. 

Neutrals,  125,  180,  181,  276,  291. 

New  Century  Ijcgins,  164. 

Newspapers  in  i7'>«,  M>  ;   English,  308. 

Nobles  join  Third  Estate  in  National  Assembly,  48. 

Nobility  abolished,  55. 

Notables  assembled,  February,  1787,  36. 

Ormeston  is  finance  minister,  »j. 


3^4 


INDEX. 


Oregon,  293. 

Order  in  Council  of  June,  1793,  128. 

Order  in  Council  of  November,  1793,  130. 

Parliament  (old  French)  refuses  taxes,  37. 

Compelled  to  register  them  it  resists,  37,  38. 
Parliament's  struggle  with  Louis,  1787,  37  to  41. 
Parliament  of  Rouen  resists  Louis,  41. 
Parties  in  France,  38,  83.     In  America,  1789,  115,  127. 
Paris  government,  52. 
Peace  of  Basle,  April  15,  1795,  87. 
Peace  of  Leoben,  April  18,  1797,  97. 
Peace  of  Lundville,  February  g,  iSoi,  171,  211. 
Pitt's  absurd  ofifer  of  peace,  100. 
Pitt  resigns,  1801,  17S;  his  policy  220,  309. 
Pitt's  fallacious  sinking  fund,  312. 
Peace  of  Amiens,  March  27,  1802,  225. 
Peltier's  trial,  254. 
The  Pope  a  prisoner,  loi. 
Populations,  170,  191. 
Press  gangs,  172,  271. 
Privateering,  271. 
Prussia,  314. 
Protestants,  22,  39. 

Queberon  massacre,  87. 

Revolution,  1771,  20;  1787,  40. 

Revolt  at  Grenoble,  July  17,  1788,  began  it,  42- 

Revolt  of  August  28,  1788,  at  Paris,  43. 

Revolution  in  July,  1789,  49. 

"  Rights  of  Man,"  52. 

Religious  murders,  64. 

Riot  of  July  20,  1792,  at  the  Tuileries,  64. 

Reign  of  Terror,  August  10,  1792,  to  October  26,  1795,  67,  71. 

Revolutionary  tribunal,  69. 

Royalty  abolished,  September  21,  1792,  71. 

Religious  war,  78,  81. 

Robespierre  80,  83,  85. 

Riot  of  May  31,  1793,  79- 

Revolts  of  April  i  and  May  20,  1795,  85,  86. 

"  Revolt  of  the  Sections,"  88. 

Religion  in  1801,  203. 

Russia,  181,  182,  183,  276. 

"  States"  at  Grenoble,  July  17,  1788,  42- 


INDEX.  325 


Sutes-General  decreed  August  8,  1788,  42. 

Met  May  4,  17S9,  44. 
Swiss  Guards,  67. 
Savoy  annexed  to  France,  72,  75. 
Switzerland  invaded  by  the  Frencli,  103. 
Sardinia,  92. 

Spain ;  its  colonies ;  the  Tuscany  fraud,  jgo. 
Situation  in  1801,  204. 
Switzerland,  212,  271. 
St.  Domingo,  240. 
Sebastiani's  report,  256. 
Spain,  278,  296. 
Steam,  299,  303,  304. 
Schools,  309. 
Sunday  schools,  303. 

Taxes,  23  ;  whisky  tax,  292. 

Tariffs  (American),  112,  116,  120,  128;  French,  153. 

Toulon  disaster,  82. 

Turgot,  17,  23,  24. 

Valmy,  September  20,  1792,  70,  75. 

Vendee,  peace,  February,  1795,  and  war  again,  87. 

Venice,  97. 

Vermont  became  a  State,  March  4,  1791,  J20. 

Versailles  mob,  1789,  53. 

War  in  Belgium,  79. 

War  between  France  and  Britain,  February  3,  1793,  76,  77,  86. 

War  between  France  and  Austria  in  Italy,  96,  107. 

War  Ijetween  France  and  America,  179X,  104,  147. 

War  between  France,  king  of  Savoy  and  Piedmont,  1798,  105. 

War  between  France  and  Russia,  107. 

Washington  elected  President,  115;  reelected,  124. 

Makes  farewell  address,  1796,  138. 

Became  Lieut. -Ocneral,  147;  died,  148. 

War's  results,  220. 
What  glory  Bonaparte  could  have  acquired  in  peace,  228. 
War  coining  again  ;  its  causes,  251  ;  comes.  May  1S04,  266 
War  Ijctwccn  the  United  States  and  Barbary  states,  288. 
Whi-sky  Ux  contest,  the  tax  abolished,  393. 


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